This Is War
by Oomph.Kiddo
Summary: Kidnapping his ex-girlfriend was not on his list of things to do.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

.

Justin sighed as he stared across catering. His eyes fell sadly on the petite blond in the corner, her bright smile and gleaming blue eyes making his heart ache.

"Justin," Otunga snapped him from his daze, shoving a water bottle at his chest. "Forget about her."

"She dumped you." Heath reminded bluntly.

Justin winced at the truth. It wasn't getting any easier. He still longed for her hair to fall in his face and glide against his cheeks, and for her lips, as soft as they were, to brush against his.

"You're doing it again." Skip pointed out.

Justin looked to his left. "Doing what?"

"Staring."

"Drooling." Husky added.

Justin frowned and ignored them. He was allowed to stare if he wanted too. And he did _not_ drool. Although, who wouldn't. She was one of, if not _the most _beautiful woman he'd ever met in his life.

"Forget about her," Otunga repeated as they readied themselves to leave the table.

Justin watched her laugh, the sound failing to cross the room and reach his ears.

"She's moved on," Otunga continued. "You should too."

Justin nodded.

"Come on, you two," Skip called from the door.

Justin began to follow Otunga out, his eyes cast to the ground.

"Cheer up," Otunga walked beside him. "Don't let it get in your head. Wade won't be happy if you screw up over _her_."

"He's never happy anyway."

"Yeah, but the fact that you dated Cena's sister doesn't help it."

"That was before the fued started."

"That's _why_ the fued started." Otunga corrected. He sighed. "She's still in your head. Wade knows that."

"I can't get her out." Justin confessed.

"You loved her." Otunga nodded. "That doesn't just _go away_."

They'd reached the Nexus locker room, Husky holding the door open for them. Wade was inside with Michael McGillicutty, addressing the rest of the team about the night's show. They heard a bell and the cheer of the crowd, signalling that it had just begun.

"Alright, listen here," Wade stood tall, making himself look like the leader. "We all know that Cena is in the building, somewhere. And whether or not he's under the ring or in the crowd, I couldn't give a rats ass."

He looked from one team member to the next. "I've had enough of Cena coming to RAW uninvited and causing problems for us."

Justin reached up to his neck, stretching it out, remembering the previous week when he'd been slammed into the car window.

Wade smirked. "Cena's stepping over line after line and I finally know how to make him stop."

"How?" Skip asked when no one else did.

"We kidnap his sister."

Nexus looked amongst each other and at their leader, faces twisted in disbelief and caution. He couldn't have been joking. Wade Barrett does not joke.

Justin felt his breath catch in his throat.

Wade must have noticed. "You got a problem with that, Gabriel?"

Justin looked up at him, his lips in a hard line. He had a big problem with it. Kidnapping his ex-girlfriend was not on his list of things to do. But Wade was their leader and his orders were to be obeyed.

"No." Justin gritted out. "No problem at all."

"Good." Wade rested back on his feet, satisfied that his plan would be followed through. "We do it tonight. During her match."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Otunga asked.

Wade walked to the couch and snatched three black bundles of clothing. "With these."

He shoved one into Otunga's chest, the man recognizing it to be a set of black clothes and a black balaclava.

Husky recieved one too.

Justin's heart sank when Wade stopped in front of him, shoving the final bundle into his hands. He knew Wade was torturing him on purpose. He'd dated the enemy's sister. This was a test to ensure that he was still faithful to the team.

Justin took the bundle with dark eyes. Wade looked far too pleased with himself for his liking.

"Get changed." Wade ordered the three men, though his eyes and words seemed to be directed at Justin alone.

After a long moment, Justin finally moved away from his leader. He made it to the bathroom, fighting the urge to slam the door. Husky and Otunga looked up when he entered, the two of them already half dressed in black.

"This is ridiculous," Justin muttered, stripping off his shirt to replace it with the one Wade had given him. "He's doing this on purpose. McGillicutty is twice my size and he chooses me instead."

"He's just making sure your heads in the right place." Husky stated, holding the door open once again for his friends.

Justin grunted and walked out first, finding Wade in the middle of another plan of attack. He was taking the remaining members with him to find and distract Cena during the match. Justin had doubts that Cena would be dumb enough to follow them, but he kept his mouth shut tight.

Husky and Otunga stopped on either side of him, the three of them waiting to be addressed.

Wade turned to look at them. "We'll keep Cena distracted as much as possible. You get in, grab her and get out. You got that?"

The last line was directed at Justin. As if the South African native was going to strike up a conversation with her first.

"I said-"

"Yeah, we got it." Justin cut off.

"Where do we take her once we've got her?" Husky broke the tension. "We can't come back here. This will be the first place Cena will look."

Wade had planned ahead. "There'll be a car waiting in the lot. Skip will be driving. I booked a small hotel a few blocks from here for the night. The rest of us will meet you there."

A loud voice from the ring announced the women's match was to begin. All eyes travelled to the television set in the corner as the fireworks set the crowd into a screaming frenzy.

"That's your cue." Wade pointed to the door. "Go through the back halls and into the crowd. I don't care when you grab her. Just grab her."

Husky and Otunga began for the door, Justin following behind them with his heart in his stomach. He really, really did not want to do this.

They did as they were told, sticking to the back halls and avoiding tech people and fellow superstars. Finding the door to the stands, Otunga pushed it open and they filed into the shadows. They could see the ring from where they were, and so they waited patiently for the right time to move.

Justin watched the small figure in the ring with soft eyes. Even from this distance she still shined. He felt the same pang of jealousy he always felt when she stood before the thousands of people in almost nothing.

Her slim, toned legs taunted him beneath her tiny, gold wrestling shorts. And her small, tight fitting wrestling bra failed to hide her ample cleavage and tanned stomach.

The thought of thousands, even millions of men fantasizing over her body had him sick to his stomach. But he couldn't do anything about it.

"Hey," Husky whacked him in the arm hard. "Keep your head clear."

Justin scowled at the bigger man. "Yeah, whatever."

His eyes returned to the ring. Maryse had taken her spot and the match had begun. The two women had been at it only a minute or two when Otunga decided that it was time to act. Justin could see why his friend had chose that particular moment.

Both women were exhausted. Maryse was trying desperately to catch her breath on the apron, her manicured fingers holding the bottom rope. And their target leant gently against the ropes for support on the far side of the ring.

Otunga broke into a run, Husky and Justin close behind him as they jumped the baracade. The crowd shared a collective gasp and continued with confused boos.

Husky grabbed her by the ankles, tugging until she fell to the mat on her stomach. He pulled her quickly under the bottom rope, fighting against her kicking her legs, and Otunga snatched her under the arms.

The referee called out to them, the announcers shrieked protests and Maryse watched on with wide eyes as her opponent was hauled off into the crowd by the three masked men.

By the time the three of them had made it to the backstage hall where they'd come from, Justin had taken Otunga's place. With one arm wrapped tightly around her stomach, he held her to his chest as she thrashed about. He had his free hand over her mouth, stiffling any noise.

Husky gripped her ankles tightly, though he seemed to be having trouble every time she attempted to kick him.

Otunga ran ahead, opening doors and leading them to the parking garage where, as Wade had promised, Skip shouted for them to get into the car. Husky dived into the back and Justin shoved the young girl in after him. He climbed in and helped to hold her still, his hand finding her mouth again.

With Otunga in the front, Skip floored it and the car screeched out of the lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

.

Justin kept the palm of his hand over her mouth. He felt more and more sick by the minute. He couldn't believe that they were actually doing this. Even if it was under orders, Justin was pretty sure it was illegal. And he sure as hell knew they could be sent to jail for it.

Skip was the first to remove his balaclava. He was trying to drive and it was proving difficult with the stupid thing on his head. Otunga took his off aswell, glancing to the back.

When she realized who it was that had her, she started thrashing again. And Justin was pretty sure she was cussing them under his hand.

"Hey," Skip shouted when she repeatedly kicked his seat. He lost control for a second, swerving into the next lane. He jerked the wheel and returned to normal. "Hey, I'm trying to _drive_ here!"

Justin released his hand from her mouth so he could yank off his balaclava. The moment she was free, she reached over Husky to grab the door handle. Husky snatched her and threw her back into Justin.

"Whoa!" Otunga moved forward in his seat when her foot almost smacked him across the face. "That was close."

"Calm her down, would you?" Skip grumbled from the front.

"Yeah, well, we're trying!" Husky quickly caught her ankles.

"Try harder!" Skip yelled. "She's gonna get us all killed."

Justin quickly snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her tight to his chest. He returned his hand to her mouth and lowered his lips to her ear, his voice soft. "Hey, hey, calm down."

She slowly started to give in, realizing that the two men had too strong a hold on her. She reluctantly rested back into Justin's chest, her breathing heavy from all the thrashing. Justin could feel the beat of her heart under his arm and his muscles relaxed as she melted against him.

"Ah, man," Husky hissed.

"What?" Otunga asked, looking behind his seat at the bigger man.

"She kicked me in the thigh."

"So?"

"It fucking hurts."

As the two of them continued, Justin lowered his lips to her ear again, his voice lowering in volume until it was a mere whisper. "Mady, listen to me. I-I'm so sorry. I didn't want this."

She said nothing. How could she when his hand was clamped over her mouth. He slowly released it, waiting for her to say something.

"_Fuck you_, Justin." she spat as she shoved away from his chest, sitting upright in her seat. "Fuck all of you. How is this going to help anything? When my brother finds you, he's going to kill you. And-"

"Here," Husky slapped a ripped piece of duct tape over her mouth. He'd found it under his seat and assumed Wade had left it in case it was needed. "Shut up."

Justin removed his arm from around her waist, his shoulders slumping at her words. She hated him. Not that he blamed her. This whole kidnapping thing was a real_ jackass_ move.

Mady sat back in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. Husky had a grip on her arm, she assumed in case she tried to escape again.

Justin wasn't touching her. He had his back against the door, looking defeated.

After a long few minutes, Otunga spoke up. "Hey, we're here."

He was pointing to the cracked, old Motel they were turning into. "Grab her and let's find the room."

Husky tugged Mady from the vehicle, his grip on her arm remaining tight enough to ensure he had control over her. Skip jogged to the front office to obtain a room key as the others lingered by the car.

"I think my thigh is bruising," Husky sighed as he looked down at his leg.

Otunga rolled his eyes and snatched Mady's arm from him, spotting Skip returning with the key. "Suck it up, man,"

Husky muttered a comeback but no one was really listening. Skip pushed into the motel room and the rest of the group followed. It was nothing special. The wall paper was out of date and cracked at the corners, and the carpet hadn't been cleaned properly. It was obviously the cheapest option for the one night they needed it.

"Here, sit." Otunga gently pushed her down onto the couch.

Skip was at the television set with the remote in his hand. He pounded the top of it with his fist a few times before it would turn on.

Justin stood by the counter and watched Mady with sad eyes. He hated Wade Barrett at that moment. Hated him for making him do this. It was eating away at him.

Her hair had loosened the bun it had been in, stray strands of blond hair falling randomly around her face. A few strands stuck to the sides of her neck, and one to the piece of grey tape over her mouth. He faught the urge to cross the room and brush them from her face.

That's when he saw it. Her body trembled slightly, and then again a few seconds after. She was cold. A waft of cold air brushed in through the window, causing the hairs on her arms to stand. She was dressed in barely nothing compared to the rest of them.

Justin quickly stripped out of his jumper and moved across the floor to place it around her shoulders.

She looked up when she felt the fabric sliding across her skin. Justin caught her eyes in his, his lips twisting reluctantly into a small smile.

Mady merely blinked with dissapointment and rolled her shoulders until the jumper slid off to the couch beneath her. She turned her head slightly away from him and returned her eyes to the stain on the carpet a few feet away.

It was at that moment that the door opened and Wade strutted in. Justin got to his feet, hiding his balled fists by his sides. He clenched his jaw to keep his mouth shut.

"Good, you got her." Wade sounded like he'd expected them to fail. He turned his attention to Mady, tossing a bundle into her lap. "Go shower."

Mady stared up with him with dark eyes. He was the reason she was in this shitty motel, with these shitty men, with her shitty ex in this shitty temperature.

Wade leant down and roughly ripped the tape from her mouth.

Justin tensed as Mady hissed in pain.

Wade noticed. "Oh, don't tell me you still have _feelings_ for her,"

He sounded amused. Justin glanced down at Mady and then back at Wade. It would be so easy to confess to the love he harboured for her, but that wasn't what Wade wanted to hear. It wasn't what he was supposed to feel. _You're either Nexus or against us_, he could hear the words clear in his head.

With Wade in his face, moments from getting his ass handed to him, Justin spat out a short, "No, Wade."

"_Good_," his leader muttered lowly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: I want to thank those who reviewed. It's greatly appreciated.

.

Mady pushed through the two men staring each other down before her, clutching the bundle of clothes to her chest as she moved towards the bathroom.

When she'd just reached the door, Wade snatched her arm and shoved her aside.

Justin rolled forward on his toes, wanting to catch her fall. But she caught her balance by snatching onto the door frame.

Wade was in the bathroom, furiously checking the bathroom windows. He didn't want her to slip through and ruin his plans afterall. But the three windows were bolted shut.

"Go ahead," he smirked, gesturing to the shower as he passed her.

She scowled and limped into the bathroom, shutting the door loudly before she locked it. She dumped the bundle of clothes by the tub and gripped onto the sink, her eyes meeting her tired frame in the mirror. It had been more than just a long day.

She'd gotten into an argument with John that morning, because of the stupid stunts he was pulling with Nexus. Then she'd been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and his loser friends because of her brother. And to top it all off, something told her that she'd twisted her knee during her match with Maryse.

She just wanted to have this shower and go to bed.

She stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water flood her skin. It rolled comfortably over her tensed muscles and sore limbs. She closed her eyes, opening them a second later when the water fell cold.

She jumped back, her shoulder hitting the glass wall with a thud. She dodged the water and switched off the taps, snatching the small towel from the hook. She wrapped it around her frame, though it was so small it hardly hid anything.

She stepped out and watched as all eyes fell lustfully on her. She even caught McGullicutty drooling.

"The hot water's not working." she stated when no one asked what she wanted.

Wade looked back at the television set. "So?"

"I haven't finished my shower."

Wade groaned and half rolled his eyes. "Look, just get changed. I don't have all night to wait for you."

Mady scowled and walked back to the bathroom, cussing under her breath. She slammed the door and retrieved the clothes from the floor. A rather large Nexus shirt and a pair of boxer shorts that were definitely a few sizes too big for her.

She sighed and dropped the towel, slipping back into her underwear before stepping into the clothes she had been given. She had to use the hair tie in her hair to ensure that the boxers wouldnt fall down.

When she stepped back into the lounge room, it looked like Wade and a few of the boys were getting ready to leave.

Otunga seemed to be protesting.

Wade cut him off mid sentence, looking stern. "Look, if we _all _stay here, people will get suspicious. I'll take a few of the boys back to the hotel so it looks like nothing out of the ordinary."

"Why does that mean_ I _have to stay here?" Ortunga argued. "I mean, Husky, Justin and I did the dirty work. We were the ones to kidnap her. I think _we_ deserve to go back to the hotel-"

"I don't care what_ you _think, Otunga." Wade snapped. "You'll stay here because I said you'll stay here. You hear me?"

Otunga shrunk back into his place. "Yeah."

Wade spotted Mady standing in the middle of the room. He snatched something from Heath and walked towards her, pulling her towards the bed across the room. He slapped one half of the handcuffs onto her wrist and the other onto the bed frame.

"Hey, what the-" Mady scoffed, trying to tug her hand free. It only caused the handcuffs to clink against the metal.

"Sleep tight," Wade mocked with a wink.

"What if I have to use the bathroom?" she called after him.

"Hold it." he shrugged, before he turned to the other men. "Let's go."

Heath, Skip and McGillicutty filed out of the room. Wade pulled Husky aside, his eyes resting on Justin who was standing a few feet away. "You watch him with her. He tries anything, you take him out."

"Alright," Husky agreed with a cautious nod. He hoped things wouldn't come to that.

"I'll be back in the morning with the cars." Wade nodded a goodbye to Justin and Otunga before his tall frame dissapeared out the door.

Otunga grumbled and dropped back onto the couch, fixing the pillow under his head. He was beyond tired and wasn't about to deal with any more bullshit.

That left Husky and Justin to sleep on the floor. Neither were happy about it, but they didn't exactly have a choice. And so Husky collected a pillow and blanket from the cupboard and set himself by the television, switching it off. "Get some sleep, Justin. We've got a big few days ahead of us."

"Yeah," Justin told him. "I'm just going to step outside for a minute."

Mady watched him leave as she adjusted the pillows at the head of the bed. She was happy that she got something comfy to sleep on, but the fact that she was attached to it was a bit much. And she was right by the open window.

She lay under the thin sheets, her teeth chattering gently together. It was after a moment that she felt someone watching her. She opened her eyes and, through the darkness, spotted Justin sitting on the floor by her bed.

"You're cold," he whispered.

Mady nodded her head.

Justin climbed to his feet and moved to shut the window, stopping the cold wind from brushing against her skin. He returned to his bed on the floor.

The window behind her emitted a light white glow from the moon, allowing him to see her outline. Her petite body was trembling gently under the cotton and he could still hear her teeth chattering quietly.

He got up again, moving to the bed. He quietly slid in behind her under the sheets, his arm draping over her hip, pulling her back against his chest.

He felt her tense at first. But his body heat was craved and she eventually relaxed into him.

He felt the trembles subside, and her stomach felt warm under his touch. It was nice to be like this. He could smell the familiar aroma on her skin, and the waft of her shampoo. When her breaths evened out and she felt content, he took his arm from her hip and went to get up.

A hand on his arm made him stop.

"Stay with me," she whispered.

Justin swallowed. He'd been waiting to hear those words for two weeks. "Mady, I-"

He felt her hand slowly snake up to the side of his neck, tugging gently until his elbow bent beneath him and his lips brushed hers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: I appreciate the reviews and alerts I've been getting! It let's me know that there's interest in what I'm writing. So, thank you!

.

Justin couldn't help but moan softly against her skin, her lips so familiar and smooth as they glided against his.

He'd been with other women since their break up, sure. But nothing like this. Nothing ever made him feel like he did when he was with her.

Like he was _alive_.

"Mady-" he moaned when her teeth tugged at his skin.

Husky and Otunga were out cold, judging by the loud snores errupting from the two of them. But the thrill of potentially being caught was sending Justin into overdrive. His heart beat picked up, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He towered over Mady and she let him remove her boxers without hesitation.

She even tugged his shirt over his head with one hand, considering the other one was attached to the bed frame.

It had been fifteen days and nineteen hours since they'd been in bed together. Since their skin had collided and their moans were in sync. That ended now.

Mady arched her back, gripping onto his neck as he moved against her. He hung his head low, his lips tracing small circles on her collarbone, while his hand rested comfortably against her hip.

It drove him insane, how her fingertips glided his back.

It drove her insane, how his touch sent shivers across her skin.

"Justin," she breathed, arching her back a final time.

Breaths low and heavy, he rolled to his side, pulling her close with his arm. He trailed soft kisses along her jaw, his hand resting on her stomach under her shirt, as she claimed oxygen back to her lungs.

"Don't leave me again," Justin almost begged against her skin.

Right here, like this-this was where he belonged. Where he wanted to be. For the rest of his life.

"Justin," she repeated after a moment, her hand resting on his chest to stop him from coming any closer. "We can't do this again."

He froze, his muscles tensing under his skin. He stared down at her in disbelief. She was not doing this to him a _second_ time. "Mady-" he swallowed. "Don't. Don't do this"

"We can't be together, Justin." she nudged his chest to tell him to back off a little more.

No. He was not going to back down. He was not going to let her go, again. He placed his hand over hers on his chest, squeezing her fingers gently. "I can't be without you."

"Is that why you _kidnapped _me today?" she asked, the snark returning to her voice.

"I was under orders. I-I didn't have a choice."

She tugged her fingers from his own, "Wade Barrett may control Nexus, but he does not control _you_."

"Mady-"

"You have a choice in this, Justin, don't act like you don't"

He couldn't believe this was happening. He couldn't believe that she was doing this to him. He felt used. He felt sick. And he could feel the anger bubbling within him. "So, what was this, a cheap _fuck_ to you?"

"You wanted it just as much as I did."

"No." Justin shook his head. If she thought this was the only thing he wanted from her, then their relationship had been a lie. "I want _you_. Not this."

"What do you want me to say, Justin?" she spat at him, pushing him off her completely. "I'm sorry I'm attached to this bed because you kidnapped me under the orders of your psycho, English leader?"

Justin sighed, running a rough hand through his hair. She wasn't going to let that go, was she.

"Just get out," Mady told him, adjusting her shirt and boxers to how they previously were.

He clenched his jaw and snatched his shirt, tugging it over his head, returning to where he was sleeping on the floor. He turned his back to her as he lay down, and closed his eyes. He hardly got any sleep in the hours that followed.

His head taunted him with images of their bodies tangling under the sheets, her soft lips and smooth skin.

"Get up," Otunga threw a pillow at him as he walked past. Was it morning already?

Justin sat up, groaning when his neck and shoulders felt stiff and sore. He used one hand to massage out the kinks and the other to throw his blanket and pillow in the cupboard.

Mady was already up, but it looked like she hadn't gotten too much sleep either.

"Hey, man, how'd you sleep?" Otunga asked as Justin dropped onto the couch beside him.

Justin shared a look with Mady. "Fine."

"Really?" Otunga snorted. "Cause you look like shit."

_Yeah, I feel like it too._ Justin thought sadly, as Mady's eyes dropped from his.

"Wade's on his way," Husky announced as he hung up the phone he'd been talking on.

"I hope he's got a plan," Otunga sighed. "Half the locker room is going to be looking for her."

Getting her into the arena wasn't going to be easy, that's for sure. If even one person spots her within their group, they'd be dead meat. Not only would Cena have their heads on a silver platter, but, as Otunga pointed out, half the locker room was going to want them dead.

Mady was John Cena's little sister at only twenty four years old. John Cena was the face of the company, the life of the party and an all round great guy. It was only natural that his little sister would pick up on those traits and be loved by the locker room.

Not to mention she was stunning, and a quarter of the superstars wanted nothing more than to save her and be declared her hero. If it meant a possible date or two.

Justin's phone went off in his pocket. He tugged it out to view the text message, his heart sinking when John Cena's name flashed across the screen.

**From: John Cena  
To: Justin Gabriel **

**I know we're not exactly on the same page right now,  
but my sister's gone missing. I'm starting to worry.  
I just thought that maybe you might have heard from  
her. Hit me back as soon as possible.**

"Who's that?" Otunga asked, peering over his friend's shoulder.

"Cena."

There was no point in lying. That would only put a larger target on Justin's back and give Wade another excuse not to trust him.

"He wants to know if I've heard from Mady."

"This is good." Otunga nodded. "It means no one suspects that it's us. Not yet, anyway."

"I didn't think you and Cena were friends" Husky frowned.

"We're not." Justin looked up. "We just shared something in common, that's all."

"Ah," Husky nodded in understanding, tossing a thumb towards Mady. "_Her_."

"What're you going to reply with?" Otunga questioned.

"Nothing." Justin switched his phone off and shoved it back into his pocket. "I never got his message."

Cena would discover that they had his sister sooner or later, and sucking up to him wasn't going to stop Cena from putting their heads through walls.

Wade entered the room with the rest of Nexus, his eyes narrowing in on Justin. "Who's message?"

"Cena was just asking if Justin knew where his sister was," Otunga answered. "You know, cause they dated and all."

"What did you tell him?" If Justin wasn't mistaken, there was panic creeping through their fearless leader's tone. Along with distrust and anger, of course.

"Nothing." Justin answered bluntly. "I didn't reply."

"Good."

"We ran into him in the hotel lobby," Heath explained to break the tension. "Good thing most of us went back there. No one suspected anything. Just thought you three were out on the town."

"Yeah. Cena barely even looked at us. Orton and Morrison were trying to calm him down. He seemed pretty worried." McGillicutty added with a snort.

This was all too amusing for them.

"Get changed," Wade tossed another bundle of clothing in Mady's lap and unlocked the handcuffs. "We've got a long trip ahead of us."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: I've gotten more reviews and alerts in the short amount of time since the last chapter, which is amazing. Thank you. I know this chapter is kind of short, but it's really just to see how John's doing with the news that his sister's been taken.

. 

John looked up when he heard Melina walking towards them talking on her phone. She snapped it shut once she'd stopped in front of him. "No one's seen her since before the show."

"Have you tried R-Truth?"

Melina nodded. "He last saw her in the hall before her match. Just like the Uso's and Santino."

John ran his hand over his face. This was getting ridiculous. His little sister had been kidnapped and not one person could remember seeing anything different.

Kelly, who was travelling with the RAW brand for a couple of shows due to her storyline being canned on Smackdown, stopped beside Melina.

"I checked with the Smackdown crew. She's not there. Swagger's going to keep an eye out and Beth said she'd call if she hears anything. But other than that, no one's seen her."

John grunted. "So, we've got _nothing_."

Kelly looked at him with sad eyes. With her phone in her hand, she began to dial some numbers. "I'll keep calling around."

The blond strutted off to a quiet corner in the lobby, followed by Melina. Fellow superstars waved as they passed, each of them heading to their rental cars with their luggage.

John took his own phone from his pocket, hoping to have a new message or missed call. But his screen was blank and his inbox empty.

"It hasn't changed since three minutes ago, John." Randy told him light heartedly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I was just checking." John sighed. "I texted Justin earlier. I guess I was just hoping he'd heard from her."

"Justin Gabriel?"

"Yeah."

"And you haven't gotten anything back?"

John shook his head.

Randy was trying as hard as he could to stay positive in front of John. They all were. Panicking and being reckless wasn't going to get them anywhere. But as his best friend, Randy could tell that John was down. He was worrying and stressing. Not that anyone blamed him.

"Well, according to Barrett, Justin and a few others had a night on the town last night. Maybe he's still asleep."

John nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right."

John didn't necessarily get along with Justin. Considering that he was a part of Nexus, the very team that had him fired only weeks earlier. But he had also been in love with John's little sister.

John wasn't an idiot. He saw the way Justin looked at her, the way he talked and moved around her. The poor kid looked just about dead the day after Mady had dumped him.

Melina walked back towards them, shoving her phone into the pocket of her jeans. "That was just the security team from the arena. No one knows how the men got in. Each door was being watched and no one unfamiliar got past last night."

"I don't understand," Morrison sighed. "They didn't just slip through a window or repel down from the ceiling."

Randy frowned. "It was an inside job."

"It had to be." Melina nodded, her brain creating the same thought. "There's no way someone else could have done it. Someone we know has her."

John's eyes darkened, his mind flashing through all the faces of his co-workers. He wasn't thinking straight and kept faltering on the wrong names. This person wouldn't take her... or would they. That person has motive... but they wouldn't go through with it.

Randy put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, we're going to find her."

John looked up at him and nodded, his smile failing to reach his ears like it usually did. "Yeah, I know."

"Come on," Melina suggested, linking her arm with John's. "If we don't leave now, we'll never make it to the next show on time."

"What's wrong, Justin?" Wade asked with a smirk. "Don't you want to ride with your _girlfriend_?"

As Nexus had neared the two vehicles in the Motel lot, Heath had shoved Mady into one car and Justin had automatically walked to the opposite.

After their argument-after she'd ripped out his heart a second time, using him only for a quick fuck, Justin wanted to be no where near her.

He glanced down at Mady, his lips forming a hard line. "She's _not_ my girlfriend."

Wade looked pleased, sensing the tension radiating between the two. Something had happened last night and whatever it was, it was bringing Justin back to the Nexus team.

As Justin headed for the other car, Wade climbed into the driver's seat of his own. He had McGillicutty in the back with Mady, and Husky in the front with him. He started the engeine, waving out the window to the others, and began to head East.

"How're you feeling, Mads?" Wade was in a much better mood this morning.

He'd slept well and showered in nice warm water. His coffee was made by a beautiful brunette at the cafe and he'd even scored a free muffin.

Mady cringed at the use of the nickname. He wasn't her friend. He was only doing it to get on her nerves. And it was working.

So, she said nothing. She just sat in her seat by the window in one of Justin's muscle tshirts and a pair of men's jeans shorts that she'd rolled up to make them shorter.

"Well, I would like some of my own clothes," she spoke finally.

Wade laughed, glancing at her in the rear view mirror. "Yeah. You look like you're drowning in that."

Mady scowled.

"Hey, now, no need to pout." Wade continued. "We'll find you something more fitting eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Well, it's not like we can just walk into the women's locker room and get you some clothes," McGillicutty scoffed from beside her.

"Take me shopping then."

"And spend money on you?" It was again McGillicutty to laugh.

She rolled her eyes_. "Somebody _is going to find me clothes or I'll-"

"Or you'll what?" Wade cut in, both slightly amused and annoyed. "It's six against one, sweetheart. _Seven _now that you've pissed off your boyfriend"

Mady shrunk back in her seat at the mention on Justin. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Well, whatever he is, he aint too pleased with you anymore."

"Yeah. What did you say to him anyway?" Husky turned in his seat to stare at her. "Yesterday he was all for trying to make sure you're alright. And this morning... he hasn't even said a word to you."

"That's none of your business." she told him with a scowl. "And just how long do I have to put up with you morons, anyway?"

Wade only smirked. "Well, sweetheart, we're going to teach your brother a lesson."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I'm so happy that you're all enjoying this story. I enjoy writing it.

. 

Nexus had arrived at the arena purposely late. Thirty four minutes late to be exact. Wade had to ignore several phone calls from various managers and tech crew people who were wondering where the hell he and the rest of Nexus were.

After a while, McGillicutty was forced to come up with a long-winded story about breaking down and taking several wrong exits before the calls stopped.

The lies didn't stop when they'd gotten to the arena parking lot either.

Wade pulled Mady from the car by her arm and studied her clothing with his eyes. She was still wearing Justin's muscle singlet and without being rolled up, it fell to her thighs.

"Take your shorts off." Wade told her, releasing her arm.

Several of the Nexus members had to take a double glance to ensure that they had heard him right. Justin was staring right at him, hoping that they'd all heard wrong.

"_Excuse me_?" Mady scoffed, taking several steps away from him. Her back bumped into McGillicutty's chest lightly.

"I said," Wade sighed, annoyed that he had to repeat himself. "Take your shorts off."

Mady stared at him wide-eyed. Was he insane? Okay, so that wasn't the best question. He'd kidnapped her, handcuffed her to a bed and was now ordering her to strip in front of him. Insane wasn't a strong enough word. Psycho, maybe.

"Don't make me ask you again," Wade snapped.

"I am _not_ stripping in front of you!"

Wade snatched her arm and shoved her into the back of the car, slamming the door. "Just do it."

Mady hesitated at first but eventually unravelled the shorts from her legs.

Wade's eyes found Justin within the group, noticing the uncomfortable look on the South African natives face. He couldn't deny that it amused him.

"Wade, man. What're you doing?" Heath eventually stepped forward.

"Yeah. I mean, this is getting a little out of hand, don't you think?" Husky added, the others nodding.

"Maybe we should stop and just give her back." Otunga decided with a shrug. "Save us all this trouble and eventual death."

Wade's face darkened. "We give her back when_ I _say we give her back."

"How are we going to get her in, Wade?" Skip scratched the back of his head nervously. "I mean, simply walking in past the superstars isn't going to work."

"They're going to know it's her." Otunga nodded.

Wade was becoming more and more annoyed, more angry by the second. His team were doubting and questioning his leadership abilities. He had a plan.

And if they would shut the hell up long enough, he'd fill them in.

When Mady was done, he pulled her from the car. He didn't mean to be so rough with her, but his growing anger for his team mates was starting to rub off on her.

"Hey!" Mady protested loudly when Wade snatched her singlet between her breasts.

Justin had to stop himself from launching forward.

Wade ripped the material with his hands until more of her cleavage was visible. It looked like a dress on her. A short one at that. But that's what he had been hoping for.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mady demanded, swatting his hand away when he'd ripped the hair band from her hair. "I swear to God, I'm going to kick your-"

Wade snatched her arm hard and shoved her roughly at Justin. She collided with his chest, but thankfully Justin steadied them before they could fall over.

"Now, if everyone would just shut the hell up for three seconds!" Wade shouted, his eyes dark and his lips hard. "I know what I'm doing. I am the leader. _You_ listen to _me_."

Nexus shifted in their places uncomfortably.

Wade turned his anger on Justin, who was now standing at least a foot from Mady. Wade kept his eyes on the shorter man but extended his arm to point to the young woman beside them. "_She_ is the woman _you _picked up at the club last night."

Justin was confused for a moment, but assumed that this was the story they were about to stick with. That's why Wade had demanded that Mady be wearing one of his singlets.

"Wait a minute," Heath frowned. "Why _him_?"

Obviously he had wanted a shot, but Wade wasn't changing his plan now. He turned on the read haired man, "Because_ I _said so!"

Heath shrunk back under the glare he was recieving. The others remained quiet in fear of being shouted at.

Wade snatched Mady's forearm tightly, pulling her close to him until he towered above her. "Now, you listen to me, sweetheart." he gritted out through his teeth. "If I even hear as much as a _peep_ out of you, we're going to have a problem. Got it?"

Mady hissed when his grip tightened. "I got it. I got it."

He shoved her at Justin a second time, tossing a pair of sunglasses into her hand. "You two are _going to _make this work."

Wade turned on the rest of the group. "Let's go."

As Wade took the lead and the group began to follow, Mady pushed the sunglasses up onto the bridge of her nose.

Justin clenched his jaw and wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping his hand a little below her hip, as he pulled her into his side. His muscles remained tense as they walked, tightening even more so when he arm found his waist.

It was all too familiar.

It got worse when Mady brushed against him as they were passing security, Wade mock-ranting about Justin having picked her up at the club. He acted annoyed. Mady decided that he probably was. But security let them breeze past nonetheless.

Young superstars were always bringing women through at one point or another.

It was the hallways and corridors that were proving difficult.

Mady had to press herself as close to Justin as possible, her face brushing against his shirt. It was uncomfortable for the two of them, but CM Punk was staring right at them. Santino and Vladimir also had second glances.

More people would glance at them and frown. Some whispered to the people beside them and other's just stared, but no one said anything.

No one looked suspicious.

Wade stood tall at the head of the group, ignoring stares and passing tech crew as if they were beneath him. In his eyes, they were. Nexus were going to take over this place sooner or later.

McGillicutty, Heath and Skip walked behind him, their Nexus tshirts visible through the crowd of people. Husky and Otunga were next, on either side of Justin and Mady to block as much as they could.

"I can't believe that this is actually working," Otunga said it low enough so that Wade wouldn't hear. He didn't need Wade's anger on his shoulders too.

"We're not out of the clear yet." Husky reminded him.

With every step they were getting closer to the Nexus locker room. One more corner and three more doors, if Justin remembered correctly.

It wasn't that he was afraid of being caught-that was just a matter of time-but he wanted to release his arm from Mady. He wanted to be away from her again. The fact that her breast kept brushing against his chest, and that his hand kept falling close to her thighs was making it hard for him to concentrate.

Making it hard for him to hate her like he should.

He felt her small frame tremble lightly and looked down. It looked like the air conditioning in the building had begun to reach her bare skin. Little goosebumps flooded her arms like armies.

Justin instinctively pulled her in closer.

Her body melted against him like it always did. _Perfectly_. And in all the right places. Justin had always been under the impression that they had been constructed for each other.

"Oh god," he heard her whisper. A sharp intake of breath following a second later.

Justin saw it before he even had to ask, his palms becoming sweaty and his throat dry.

John Cena was up ahead.

And he was heading _straight_ for them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. It means so much to me.

. 

John frowned, his eyes travelling ahead to where he spotted Justin attached to some blond.

"Hey," he called out to get the younger man's attention. "Hey, Justin."

_Shit_, Mady turned into Justin's chest hearing her brother's footsteps approaching further.

If John got too close, he would for sure know that it was her. He was her brother, after all. Of all the people they could run into at this moment, it just had to be _him_.

It was just their luck.

Justin had to think quick. Otunga and Husky were looking to him, almost asking if they should snatch Mady and run for it. Wade and the others were a little too far ahead to really notice what was happening, so the four of them were on their own.

He was snapped from his momentary panic as Mady pressed herself against him, her heart beat climbing as she tried to hide as much of her face as she could in his shirt. As he looked down at her, he noticed she had her eyes shut tight-as if she were bracing herself for whatever would come next.

He looked up and noticed John was still heading in their direction. He needed to get rid of Mady and fast.

What happened next happened in slow motion. At least to him, it did.

He snatched Mady around the hip, her chest suddenly colliding with his as slid his free hand to the crook of her neck. He brought his lips down roughly onto hers, his tongue gliding softly against them.

Stunned at first, Mady failed to make a move. But when she felt Justin's hand against her leg, causing his singlet to ride up her thigh, she fisted his shirt and pressed against him.

The contact caused a soft moan to escape Justin's throat, and neither of them could decide if they were acting or not this time.

Husky and Otunga stood to their side awkwardly, pretending to talk to each other. Otunga even clapped Justin on the back and smirked, as if he were congratulating his friend on getting some.

They were doubtful at first, but whatever Justin's plan had been, it must have caught John off-guard. The blond man had slowed his steps, giving Justin more time to hand Mady off to Otunga, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her off towards the locker room.

John watched as they passed, not able to see the woman's face behind Husky's bulky exterior.

He couldn't quite place what he was feeling, whether it was dissapointment or pity for the South African man he was now standing in front of.

"Hey man," John greeted nonetheless with a small smile.

Justin, still tingling from the kiss, greeted the man with a nod. He was hiding his nervousness as best he could without looking suspicious.

It was making him look arrogant, which was good.

John threw a thumb over his shoulder. "Uh, who was that?"

He knew Justin was a good kid. Sure, he was mixed in with the wrong crowd, but that aside he was decent enough. John was just a little worried about him.

With news that Justin had been out on the town all night, and that he was now shoving his tongue down some woman's throat, John was afraid that this was Justin's way of dealing with the break up and with Mady's abduction.

"Oh, her?" Justin feigned a shrug and followed through with Wade's story. "Picked her up from the club last night. Anyway, what's up?"

"I know you got my text this morning."

"Yeah, well, I was a little_ busy_."

"Have you heard from her?"

"No."

"Not at all?"

"No."

"Oh. I just thought that you might have talked to her-"

"Yeah, well, I haven't."

"You know she was abducted, right?"

Oh yeah. He knew.

"Uh huh."

"And you don't care the slightest bit, do you."

"Why should I?"

"You _dated_."

"She _dumped_ me."

"So?"

"I moved on." _Lie._

"With that chick waiting for you in the locker room?"

"Yeah."

"That's not moving on, bro."

Justin shifted his weight, readying himself to step around the taller man. "Look, John, I appreciate this and all. But they're waiting for me in there, and I've got to-"

"You're going to walk away. Just like that?" John sighed and stepped forward a little. "This isn't the way to deal with things, man. I know you're hurting, I am too, but downing your sorrows in booze and women isn't the way to go." A pause. "Look, I know you still care about her. I know you still_ love_-"

"Look, John." Justin cut him off, not wanting to have this conversation for several evident reasons. "Thanks for your concern and all, but I think I can handle myself."

"Justin, I know she hurt you-"

"Just drop it, would you?" Justin didn't mean to snap. But he'd had a long morning and an even longer night.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, kid." John scowled, pointing to the locker room door. "_That_ woman in there is never going to compare remotely close to my sister and you know it. She's nothing but a cheap fuck to you."

_A cheap fuck_. That sounded all too familiar to Justin.

"I bet she'll fuck your team mates too before you realize she's not worth your time. You can try to bury your feelings for my sister as deep as you want, but-"

Justin turned to walk away, this conversation becoming all too much for him.

John snatched his arm, his eyes and voice softening desperately. "Help me find her, Justin."

Justin shook his arm off. "Find her yourself."

He tried to act confident and unaffected as he walked off, but his head slowly began to sink on his shoulders. Hearing John talking to him like that-with his voice so full of concern-it just tore him up inside.

"I'm _done_ with this." Justin spat as soon as the locker room door had closed behind him. His eyes found Wade across the room. "You want to continue, you do it without me. I-"

Wade strode over, snatching Justin's shirt in his fist as he slammed the smaller man up into the wall.

The rest of Nexus froze. Mady stared with wide eyes.

"You watch your mouth, kid. You're done when _I say _you're done. You're not walking out of this now. You even_ try _to leave and I'll make sure every ounce of blame falls onto _your_ shoulders."

Justin gritted his teeth.

"You'll go to jail, lose your dream career in this business and you'll lose every ounce of respect that anyone outside that door has for you. You got that?"

It took only a few seconds for his leader's words to sink into his skull, fear creeping over Justin slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I got it."

The remaining men of Nexus looked on, almost frightened. That speech, although it was being spat in Justin's face, applied to all of them.

They were in this.

And they were in it_ together_.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. It means so much to me.

.

Nexus watched, four of them perched on the couch with the other three standing behind them, as Justin's agile frame bounced around the ring. He dodged and ducked for his life, trying to concentrate and clear his head.

But Randy Orton was coming after him _hard_.

Even Mady, who was unfortunately stuck between Barrett and Husky on the couch, noticed that the Viper was hitting just that little bit harder tonight.

Like he wanted to actually _hurt _Justin.

Justin had been thrown around like a rag doll for the last few minutes, his team mates cringing every time his head hit the turnbuckle or his back hit the mat.

When the bell finally sounded and Randy was declared the winner, it was a shock to them all to see the Viper snatching a chair out from under the ring.

Justin was rolling around on his side, clutching his ribs with a pained look on his face. His eye was busted along with his lip, from where his head had hit the post. And, by the look on Randy's face, he was about to limp out of there with a lot more than a busted lip.

Otunga, Skip, Heath, Husky and McGillicutty rose from their seats, ready to flee to the ring to save their friend.

"Sit down." Wade ordered them, his tone bored. He said it louder a moment later when his orders had been ignored. "I said sit down!"

The five men slowly and reluctantly returned to their seats, their wide eyes darting back to the television set. Justin was in pain, but the Viper wasn't finished with him.

Mady couldn't bare to watch. The sickening sound of steel against bone filled her head, and even the crowd's cheers couldn't drown it out.

She knew Randy Orton, and Randy Orton didn't do this. He didn't walk down that ramp and _purposely_ hurt someone. Not even someone he didn't necessarily get along with or like.

"He's killing him out there," Otunga shouted at Wade, his arm outstretched to the television set where the attack continued.

Barrett didn't move.

After what seemed like an hour, the attack on the bruised and battered South African came to an end. Security and referees alike flooded to the ring to escort Randy out.

Justin, barely able to walk on his own two feet, was escorted to the back a moment later. He burst into the locker room, livid.

"_What the hell _was that?" he demanded loudly.

He was a sight for sore eyes, and Mady was finding it hard to look at him.

Wade looked unaffected, his eyes dark. "You needed to learn a little lesson, Gabriel."

"A _lesson_?" Justin snorted, wincing when his head began to throb. "I got more than a lesson out there, Barrett. I got my ass handed to me!"

Barrett's voice lowered darkly. "Which is only a _small_ proportion of what will happen if you even_ try _to quit on me again."

"I already told you I wouldn't."

Wade nodded, with a small smirk. "I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that."

Justin shut his mouth, the glare darkening his features. He was in an unbelievable amount of pain. He was surprised he was even standing upright.

"Get to the shower," Wade ordered. "Clean yourself up."

Justin said nothing more. There was no point. He pushed through the small gathering of his team mates and dissapeared into the bathroom, the door closing noisily behind him.

Mady creeped in a moment or so later. He looked up, a towel pressed painfully to the wound on the back of his head.

She was leaning nervously on the closed door. She lifted a small orange bottle of pills to show him that she had a reason to be in there with him. That she wasn't just standing there because she was insanely worried about his health.

Even if she secretly was.

"Skip got them for you," she explained quietly. "They're not the heavy stuff, but they'll, uh, they'll take the pain away, at least."

He nodded, although it was a shitty, half-assed nod because his neck was cramped and sore. He winced when the towel brushed closer to the wound than he liked.

"Here," Mady immediately moved towards the bench, taking the towel from his hand. "Let me do it,"

She lowered herself onto the bench, one leg on either side of it as she faced Justin. She began to dab the blood from his head carefully, able to see where it was and how much blood needed to be cleared off. It bothered her that he was this hurt.

It bothered her more that _Randy_ was the one who'd done it.

"I'm sorry," she bit her lip when he winced again.

"It's fine," he dismissed half heartedly.

It fell silent between them again. It wasn't awkward or tense, and they were at least talking to each other. Justin would turn his head to the right a little, and he would catch her eyes, only for a moment, and Justin would swear that he saw a soft blush creep across her cheeks.

Her touch was soft and tender, as if she were afraid to hurt him more than he was.

When he caught her eyes again, she held them. He was afraid to blink. He'd never wanted someone so bad in his entire life.

But she eventually dropped her eyes and swallowed roughly as she got to her feet, clutching the blood soaked towel in her hand. "Uh," she fumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "You should probably shower now. I'll just go."

She ducked out of the room, dumping the towel by the door. Wade snatched her arm and pulled her aside. He'd seen her walk into the bathroom and he was not pleased about it.

"I was just giving him the pain killers," she told him as she stared up at his face.

If she wasn't mistaken, he looked, well, kind of_ jealous_.

He wasn't buying it. "It took you _eight minutes _to give him _one_ bottle of pills?"

"I helped him clean his head up, too."

Wade looked to the bathroom door and back to her. It bothered him that he actually _cared_ that she had been doting over Justin. She cared about Justin. Not him.

He _wanted_ her too care about him.

His expression softened suddenly as he released her arm, obviously dropping the subject. "I was just about to send Heath and Otunga to get you some new clothes. One's that will actually fit you, so you don't have to drown in our stuff."

"Oh."

"And you haven't eaten since we took you." Wade continued. "So, we can stop off at a bar or something on the way to the next state."

Mady was speechless.

Wade was suddenly, for some reason, being _nice_ to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I'm sorry that this update is small and kind of boring. It's a fill-in.

.

As promised, Wade had sent Heath and Otunga off to the women's locker room. And somehow the pair managed to return with some sort of clothing. Heath said something about a lie and another lie and a million and two questions from Melina, but the point was that they had succeeded.

Wade, annoyed that they had only managed to get a pair of shorts and a clean set of underwear, handed the items to Mady. "We can stop in at the shops to get something more tomorrow."

Mady was still trying to get used to the sweet words coming out of his mouth, but she nodded nonetheless.

A knock on the door moments later saw a tech person stick his head into the room.

Mady was quickly shoved behind Husky. The man didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't seem to care. He explained that it was late and they were some of the last in the building, and that they needed to leave so that the arena could be cleaned.

"Alright," Wade nodded to the man. "Let us just grab our belongings and we'll be out."

The man accepted this and left them be.

Wade collected his bag from the floor and shoved the last of his shirts into it. "Get Gabriel out of there would you?" he threw his arm in the direction of the bathroom. "He's been in there for long enough."

Mady frowned. Justin had a_ concussion_, for crying out loud. How fast did he want him to move? Especially after a beat down like that.

Heath pounded on the bathroom door to tell Justin to hurry the hell up. And the South African eventually limped out with his hair still wet.

Although the blood had been cleared from his wounds, he still didn't look any better than he had to begin with. Both his eyebrow and lip on the left side of his face were busted and bruised, a harsh purple cloud flooding his temple and a quarter of his cheek. His hair covered the wound to the back of his head, and his shirt was covering the several bruises along his chest.

But he still looked like death.

Mady locked eyes with him when he'd looked in her direction.

He leant down to retrieve his bag from the floor and almost collapsed when the blood rushed to his head.

Mady crossed the room and ducked under his arm, her arm slipping around his waist as her hand pressed tentively to his chest. She looked over her shoulder at Heath, who was just standing around waiting for everyone else. "Slater, can you grab this?"

Heath took Justin's bag in his free hand, agreeing to cart it to the car.

Justin shook his head, trying to clear it. He was feeling a little lightheaded and having Mady there was helping shitloads.

"I got you," Mady promised him when he stumbled taking the first step.

"Hurry up, Gabriel." Wade snapped impatiently from the door, having been watching them.

Mady stared at him with disbelief and annoyance. It didn't matter that he was beginning to warm to her. He'd left Justin in the middle of an attack, just to teach him a "lesson". And now he expected the shorter man to be in tip top shape?

"He's doing the best he can," Mady snapped back with a frown.

Wade's eyes fell on her, as if he was surprised she'd been the one to say anything in Justin's defense. It was a long moment before Wade moved. Like he was deciding whether to call her out on it or not. He soon grunted and left the room in a huff, muttering that he'd meet the rest of them in the parking lot.

McGillicutty and Husky hurried to keep up with him, leaving the rest of them to take their time.

Skip was nice enough to hold the door for Mady, who was trying her best to keep Justin upright. As she passed, Skip ducked under Justin's other arm and hoisted the man's weight onto himself.

"You stay on that side," Skip told her.

It might have been late, but there was no telling if a superstar or two had decided to stay around. Mady nodded and clung to Justin on the opposite side, keeping her face close to his chest.

"Hey, Skip," she spoke when they had made it to the parking lot.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She caught it. A small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Don't mention it."

And she didn't.

Wade was waiting for them when they'd gotten to the rentals. Skip took Justin and helped him into the back of the closest one. Mady went to climb in behind him, when Wade gently took her arm.

"Someone needs to sit with him," she told him. Minus Wade and McGillicutty, the other men were already buckled into the other vehicle. "If he passes out or something, there's nothing you can do from the front."

Wade knew she was worried about Justin, who's eyes were getting heavy as he slumped against the car door in his seat. It bothered him, but he let it slide, releasing her arm.

She climbed into the back and leant over to strap Justin in, before she did herself.

"Are we getting something to eat?" Heath called out from the other car, his head of red hair sticking out from the front window.

Wade wasn't in the mood to eat, but Mady needed food. And he needed to be with her at all times, considering his team mates were slowly proving themselves useless. He nodded to the red head. "Just follow me."

He got into his seat and started the engine, glancing through the rear-view mirror to the back. Mady had her hand on Justin's face, telling him to look at her and to stay awake. He was mumbling some incoherent sentence about being tired and wanting to go to bed, but she wasn't having it.

"Are you going to start driving now, or what?" McGiillicutty asked when Wade failed to start moving and the car behind them beeped its horn.

Wade snapped out of his daze and kicked the car into gear, mumbling. "I was just making sure we had everything."

McGillicutty didn't question him, nor did he seem to notice the repeated glances in the rear-view mirror, and the car began to travel along the highway.

"Do you think we should dump Gabriel off at the hotel before we eat?"

"Yeah, I was thinking that."

"We don't want to be carting him around a bar."

Mady listened to their conversation with her eyebrow raised. "I'm not leaving him alone, you know. He's got a concussion. He needs to be watched. That and he needs to eat too."

Wade gritted his teeth. "Alright, fine."

McGillicutty looked back at her. "Fine. He's _your_ responsibility."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I'm sorry that this update took longer than the others. I got sidetracked with life and then I had to re-write it twice. But I hope you like it.

So, let me know what you think, okay?

.

As they pulled into the parking lot of 'Mertyle's Bar and Grill', an old, worn building a couple of blocks from their next hotel, Wade sent Skip and Otunga inside first. They couldn't risk being caught out if a superstar or two had decided, like them, to pull in for a late night meal.

As they waited, Mady helped Justin out of the vehicle and stood him on his own two feet. He was beginning to regain his level head, but he still leant on her a little. Half out of support, and the other because, well, it was just nice to be close to her.

"How are you feeling?" It was a stupid question, but Mady asked it anyway.

Justin sent Wade a glare before he answered. "I've been better."

Wade grunted and looked away in time to see Otunga coming out of the building. "It's all clear. No one's here. It's pretty crowded anyway. Skip found us a table at the back."

"Alright," Wade began to head into the building. The smell of barbeque wings and beer smacked them in the face as they entered.

Mady noticed that, like Otunga had said, the place was almost full with people. All gathered around small tables with food and beer, and a few lingering on the dance floor. She tugged on Justin's shirt when Wade moved forward to tell him to take a step.

They found Skip sitting at the farthest table to the back. When an aged lady approached them with her notepad and pen, Wade ordered a round of burgers and a few baskets of chips. And then, as an afterthought, a round of beer. They'd eaten in silence. Only occasionally making conversation.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Mady soon announced, nudging Heath until he got up to let her out.

Wade stood too, and she knew it was because she wasn't to be left alone. It would have been stupid of them to have her out of sight for even a few minutes. Wade let her walk ahead of him and they weaved through the crowd until the bathroom doors stood out against the back wall.

As she was passing a small cluster of men, one snatched her wrist. He smelt of beer and tobacco, and his face was flushed red from being intoxicated.

He didn't have a chance to touch much else.

Wade snatched him by his shirt collar and slammed him against the wall, keeping him there with his forearm. Mady spun around to face them.

"_That_," Wade growled low and dark, his face close to the other man's. "Is not a good idea."

Wade had seen the man eyeing Mady since they walked in. He'd watched as the man gawked and whispered to his friends, obviously planning to approach her and try his luck. It had gotten worse as they were walking towards the restrooms, the man licking his lips and eyeing her up and down.

It might have been that Mady was still in minimal clothing.

But it had made Wade's blood boil nonetheless. And the moment he saw the man's grubby hand reach out to touch her, he saw red.

He still had the man roughly against the wall, his eyes boring down harshly. "You keep your hands to yourself, you hear me? Or the next time you so much as_ think _about touching her, I'll break them off."

He shoved the man back towards his friends. "Now, get."

Mady watched as the small group scurried off as far away from the towering Brit as possible. She wasn't sure if she had dreamed the entire thing up, but she could have sworn Wade had just defended her.

"Go on," his voice had softened somewhat as he nudged Mady towards the women's restroom. "I'll wait here."

Still confused, she pushed her way into the bathroom and found a stall to the back. Her mind was reeling. This was a perfect opportunity to wait for another woman to come in, for Mady to ask to use a cellphone to call her brother to put an end to all this.

But, the only problem was,

She wasn't entirely sure she wanted too.

Nexus was kind of, well, growing on her.

As she was washing her hands in the sink, the door opened and three women walked in, eyeing her with bored stares. The front one-the "leader" of the trio, as it seemed-stopped a mere inch from Mady, causing the shorter of the two to look up.

"Can I help you?" Mady scoffed briefly, taking a short, much needed step back.

"I saw you with him." the tall red head spat, her hands on her hips.

"With who?"

"With my boyfriend. You were _all _over him, you _slut_."

"_Excuse me_?" Mady stared at the woman like she was stupid.

"Don't try to deny it," one of the back ones hissed. "I saw you. Just then. I saw you."

Mady almost laughed.

"This isn't funny!" the red head shouted, stomping her foot like a three year old. "He loves me. Not you. So back off, alright?"

"If he loves you, like you say he does. He wouldn't be trying to sleaze his way onto another..." Mady eyed the other woman with her eyebrow raised. "Much_, much_ more good looking woman like myself."

It surprised her how cocky she sounded. She hardly ever talked herself up like that. Nexus was definitely rubbing off on her...

The red head went to say something smart or witty, but ended up shrieking and storming out, her two followers scattering out behind her. Mady couldn't help herself. Once they were gone, she began to laugh softly, fairly pleased with herself.

She left the restroom and met Wade, who was waiting exactly where she'd left him, and he'd asked her what she was smiling about.

Mady was shoved before she had a chance to reply.

The red head was back, and she had latched herself onto Mady's hair, shrieking as she wrestled the smaller woman to the floor. Mady was in charge no more than a second later. Obviously the woman had no idea that she was a wrestler, otherwise she wouldnt have been so stupid to take her on in a fight.

Mady pinned the red head down, her fists and claws coming down roughly in the scuffle. The other two bimbo's were on her as backup, tugging on her arms and hair to get her off. But Mady could take the three of them, and she had one bleeding and one limping in a matter of minutes.

A crowd had gathered to watch, some cheering and others deciding whether or not to step in.

Wade was fighting off the red-head's boyfriend-the same guy he wanted to punch out earlier-and his three mates. McGillicutty and Husky came out of no where, taking the three men to the floor to aide their friend. Justin stupidly dove in to help them.

Heath grabbed a hold of Mady when he had the chance, Skip tossing the other three women aside. They didn't attempt to go for Mady again, seeing that the small blond had muscular friends.

"Tommy!" the red head screamed, grabbing her boyfriend's arm, blood trickling from her nose. "Let's just get out of here."

Nexus stood in a line-Mady still being held by Heath, thrashing gently to get back to the red head-their fists up and stances low, ready to pounce again should the men dive back in.

Tommy didn't seem game. Neither did his friends. So, taking his girlfriend's advice, they all left, muttering curses and threats under their breath.

Once the crowd started to disperse, Mady was able to review the damage.

There were two broken tables, a dozen or so broken glasses and a dent in the wall. Wade had a cut above his eye, Husky a bruise on his shoulder and McGillicutty a gash along his back. Justin-who had previous injuries-only looked worse. Skip had been scratched along his chest and Mady had left a few scratches on Heath's arm.

Mady was barely touched. She had a few scratches here and there, and there would be a bruise along her neck tomorrow, but other than that she was fine.

But, after that, they decided that it was time to go, and headed out the door with their things. Mady was walking behind the group, having been the last to make sure that they hadn't left anything behind. As she stepped out into the cool, night air she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone. She didn't bother to apologize, already hurrying across the lot as she noticed that the other's were already in the cars and the back door was open for her.

She tugged the hood of her jumper over her head as the air whipped at her face and climbed into the vehicle beside Heath.

Maria, who had just been walking into the bar when she'd been bumped in the shoulder, stopped and turned quickly. That wasn't-had it been-was that just-

She frantically tugged her phone out of her pocket and rushed back outside to the parking lot, searching it for any sign of the small blond woman. Her head whipped in every direction, her hand shakily pressed to her forehead. "John!" she almost shouted when he'd answered, "I just saw Mady..."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. Super fast update? Aw, yeah. I hope you all like it.

.

John almost dropped the phone when Maria slightly screamed in his ear. Her words came out in such a rush that he hadn't quite caught it the first time. "Maria, whoa, slow down, would you. I can't hear a thing you're saying."

_"I just saw Mady!"_

John froze up a little. "Maria, don't fuck with me."

_"I'm not."_ came her defensive reply on the other end of the line. _"John, I'm telling you, I just saw Mady. She just bumped into me."_

John's heart pace picked up. "Is she with you?"

By this time, the one sided conversation had spiked interest in Randy and Morrison, who were standing in the hotel lobby with him. They shuffled closer, eyebrows pulled together.

Maria sounded sad when her voice filled the line again_. "No."_

John sighed, low and deep.

_"By the time I realized who it was, she was already gone."_

"Gone where?" John asked, running his hand through his short-cropped hair. "Gone with who?"

_"I don't know, John. I'm so sorry. She was alone when I saw her." _

"Alone? That doesn't make any sense. She was kidnapped, Maria, she couldn't have been alone."

_"John, she was alone. No one was with her. Not that I saw, at least."_

John's head was starting to hurt. None of this was fitting together.

_"If it's any consolation, she looked...okay."_

He said nothing.

_"I'm so sorry, John. I've-I've got to go. I'll call you if I hear anything."_

BEEP.

.

The car was quiet, no one knowing how to respond to the night's events just yet. They were all sore, and beginning to feel the effects of their wounds as the beer slowly wore out of their system.

A phone call shifted the silence and Heath dug his phone from his pocket. Seeing that it was Skip, he put it on speaker.

_"So..." _

All pairs of eyes drifted to the phone, McGillicutty's through the rear-view mirror.

_"...Mady's pretty badass."_

That simple statement cleared the vehicle of tension, a small laugh escaping Heath's lips, and then Mady's, and then the other's that followed. It was nice, to hear them laugh. To laugh with them. Mady glanced up sideways to catch Heath's eyes, the laughter in both cars continuing.

_"Hey, Mady, watching you wrestle three women was, well, pretty hot."_ Husky's voice shouted from the phone. He was obviously sitting in the backseat.

_"I can't believe she took on the three of them and came out the least injuried." _Otunga's voice was next.

"That's Nexus material, right there." Wade agreed, his eyes boring into hers as she looked up at him.

She chewed her lip as the rest of them laughed and agreed, continuing to recount their attack on the four men. Justin had been the one to break one of the tables, and Husky the other. Otunga had smashed a few glasses over shoulders, and McGillicutty was particularly proud of denting the wall with the man's head.

But Mady was hardly listening, was hardly laughing and was hardly breathing.

Had Wade just invited her to join Nexus?

He looked away when McGillicutty had cut the engine and they had hung up on the other's. They climbed out, still laughing and joking as they collected their belongings from the back.

Justin was leaning against the car, his face a slight shade of green. "I don't feel so good."

"He's going to be sick," Heath leapt a foot away, dragging the bags with him.

Justin had taken strong pain killers before they'd left the arena. And then, he's stupidly had a few beers and gotten into a fight at the bar. The combination of the two and a car ride had left him feeling lightheaded, intoxicated and uneasy.

Sure enough, he hunched over and vomitted onto the road. Earning disgusted grunts and groans from his team mates. They all started to drag their bags towards the hotel, leaving Mady behind.

"Hey," she called out to them. "Where are you going?"

McGillicutty turned around, smirking, but kept walking. "He's _your_ responsibility, remember?"

"You can't leave me with him! How am I going to get him up to the room? What if someone sees me?"

Wade stopped walking long enough to toss her a roomkey, and smirk a signature smirk. "I booked this hotel because it's a ten minute drive from where every other superstar is staying. You'll be fine."

With that, he and the rest of them dissapeared into the building.

Mady stared after them, groaning when she heard Justin vomitting again somewhere behind her. She turned and found him sitting on the ground against the car.

"I'm good, I'm good." he slurred.

After a moment or two, she had managed to get him back onto his feet. She shoved his bag into his hand. "Come on," she ducked under his other arm and carted her own bags as they started to walk. "Let's get you to bed."

They'd had trouble in the lobby, with Justin dropping his bags and almost falling over as he reached down to grab them. They made it into the elevator, but Justin was slowly slipping against the mirror walls and almost fell on an old lady who was trying to get on. But the real trouble started when they'd finally made it to the hotel room.

Mady had hauled Justin into the shower, full clothed, turning on the taps until the water was hitting him. In his intoxicated state, he was having an issue with standing upright, and eventually crashed down to the tiles below.

Taking Mady down with him.

She was now almost sitting on his chest, her clothes and hair soaked through. He was laughing, squinting as the water fell down onto his face.

"Justin, are you alright?" she asked, leaning over him until the warm water was hitting her back, sheilding him.

"I fell." he laughed.

And she couldn't help but laugh too, at how adorable he looked. "Yeah, you did. But you've got to get up."

"I don't want too."

"Well, you have too."

He was quiet for a minute. He looked up at her, the water dripping from her hair hitting his chest. He frowned. "You're all wet."

"So are you."

"Yeah, but you're still pretty."

Mady felt the warm blush sweep across her cheeks. She swallowed and tried to stand up, "Come on, Justin."

"I want to stay here. It's warm."

"Your bed will be warm too."

"It will?" he asked, squinting up at her.

"Yeah."

"Will you lay with me?"

It caught her off guard.

She blinked for a minute, and then turned off the taps, stopping the water from falling down around them. She looked down at him, his handsome face searching for her eyes against the light.

"Yeah," she breathed out. "Yeah. I'll lay with you, J."

His eyes lit up at the familiar nickname. Only she called him that.

Only when she was feeling madly, deeply, insanely in love.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going. I think this is a really, really sweet and emotional chapter. So, I hope you like it.

.

After the events in the shower, Mady had managed to get him sorted into a dry set of clothes. She'd walked water everywhere trying to find where she'd dropped his bag. But she found some clothes for herself too, and after she'd cleaned herself and the bathroom up, she carefully slid under the sheets beside him like she'd promised.

It was a long moment before either of them spoke. It was Justin, though, who went first. In his fading drunken stupor, he asked a question she was hardly ready to answer.

"Why'd you leave me?"

"I don't know." she swallowed harshly. "I just did."

He knew there had to be more to it than that.

"Why, though?" he whispered.

"Because," she whispered back to him.

Because maybe, just maybe, she felt something for him. Something she'd never felt before. Not ever. Something deep, and raw, and wonderful. Something so intense, she could no longer pretend that it wasn't there.

Because it was.

And maybe, just maybe, she was lying there with him because she _truly_ loved him.

"Because," she repeated. "You were there. And I was there. And I was terrified." a small beat. "I'm _still _terrified."

His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn't asleep. "What are you terrified for?"

"I don't know," she sighed almost inaudibly. Her throat scratched with unshed tears.

He sensed it-he always did-and pulled her closer. His warm breath brushed the top of her ear, "We're meant for each other, you know. You and me. What we have-what we had. What we had wasn't about sex or being with someone just to not be alone. It was the real thing. And I know we lost it somewhere near the end. But it's _always _here."

She felt the first warm, damp droplet slide down to the tip of her nose.

"It's when I'm standing six feet from you and I lose the ability to comprehend words. It's the way you smile, the way it curls and collapses on your lips. It's the sound of your laugh, or the touch of your fingertips."

"Do you see it now?" he asks gently. "There's nothing to be terrified of. Not when you feel that kind of _love_."

Her face is a silent mess. Her eyes raw, and red. Her cheeks flushed damp. Her lip bitten and lightly bruised.

And she would have spoken, had her heart not been in her throat.

"I'm terrified of this. Justin, I'm terrified of us." she managed to sob out. "But I don't want to run from it. No. I did that before. And it was horrible." a breath. "Missing you was the worst concequence I've ever dealt with. Justin, it hurt so-it hurts so much."

His arm tightened around her protectively. As if he were trying to shield any source of pain from her tiny, fragile frame. "Don't miss me. I'm right here."

"And I don't understand why."

"Because," he whispered, his voice calming her down some. "That's what people who love you do. They put their arms around you and love you, even when it's not easy."

"It's not easy, is it."

"No." he agreed quietly. "But we're young. And we're going to screw up a lot. We're going to change our minds, and sometimes our hearts. But, through all of that, the only true thing we can give each other is our forgiveness."

She was almost too scared to ask. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes."

It was a warm breeze in summer, or a tall mug of coffee in winter. An invisible weight shifted off her shoulders and fell carelessly to the floor.

He was no longer bitter, nor did he harbor hate. Inside him, was filled with warmth.

Her warmth.

With the weight gone, she felt as light as a feather. Her eyes slowly decieved her, closing under the exhaustion of the night. Justin didn't mind.

In fact, he brushed his lips across her cheek in the sweetest of kisses. "Go to sleep."

Silently, she slipped into a gentle slumber. He watched as she became entirely innocent and vulnerable under her eyelids, his arm still comfortably tucked around her. He, too, soon slipped into his own peaceful, sleeping state until the light of the morning peaked through the curtains.

He'd never liked the feeling of waking up in the morning. It was like you were suddenly hit with the weight of the day, and the safety of sleep couldn't follow you into the sun.

But he would wake up like this every morning, no matter the time.

He shifted carefully under the sheets until his back was pressed against the mattress and he could feel her heat against his side. She shifted too, sensing his movement. Still asleep, she lifted her cheek onto his chest, her fingertips running along his stomach until they found his side.

She was holding onto him, like she were afraid to let go. He watched her breathe, the weight of the previous days unseen on her flawless face.

Justin tucked his head down lower, kissing her forehead in the gentlest manner, as not to wake her. He grinned, though, when her nose twitched and her eyelashes breezed against her cheek in the most adorable way.

He knew it didn't get any better than this. And there was absolutely nothing that could disrupt the perfectness of this moment.

Except for that. A hard, sharp knocking at the door.

Justin's head snapped up quickly, silently begging them not to knock again as Mady stirred beside him. He didn't want to wake her. Not after how exhausted she'd been.

It was a short moment until the knocking returned with a voice. It was Wade, and by the sound of it, the other guys too. "Gabriel, get your ass out of bed and open the door."

Justin took his time, careful not to disrupt Mady as he manouvered his way out of the sheets. He crossed the room, rubbing his face of sleep, and opened the door. "Quiet down, would you. It's still morning."

"It's nine o'clock." Skip told him as he passed, holding up his wrist with a watch on it.

"We've got to get on the road." Heath added, munching on an apple. "Wade wants to stop at a shop to get some clothes for Mady."

Wade spotted her then, her face buried softly into the plush pillow. The sheets were thrown carelessly around her waist, and the shirt she was wearing had ridden up against her hip, exposing her skin. It was a sight to see, that was for sure.

And Wade was finding it hard to look away.

"Can we give her a few extra minutes of sleep?" Justin asked, tugging a clean shirt over his head. "She was up all night looking after me."

His voice sent Wade's eyeline his way. There was only one bed in the room, and Justin had been in it. He had been in it with her.

He swallowed, hiding the strange feeling of jealousy tugging at his insides. "Yeah. Let her sleep. We'll start loading the cars."

He left the room without another word, a few of the others following him out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going.

I'm sorry I took longer than usual. With Christmas and all that, I was swomped with family and gatherings. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, by the way. Anyway, I had to jump straight to this scene, because I was having the hardest time trying to write anything else. I don't know how good this is, but I hope you like it.

.

Mady watched, horrified, as Randy brought the steel chair down onto Justin's already bruised back. She'd begged him not to go out there, but when the Viper had begun his attack on Wade and McGillicutty, he and the others had fled the locker room to assist them.

Randy had looked delighted when Justin slipped into the ring, almost like he had been waiting for the younger man. His eyes were dark as he jumped the South African, taking him down while he tried to shake off Otunga and Skip.

Outnumbered seven to one, Randy had turned to a steel chair to help even the odds a little. It wasn't long until he had Nexus scattered around the outside, battered and bruised.

Mady waited, pacing the room. She was dressed in a nice, short dress-one of the many items she was able to guilt Wade into buying for her that morning when they'd stopped in at the shopping centre. She now had a whole bag full of clothes, underwear and make-up products.

She continued to watch the attack, cringing every time a member of Nexus was whacked with the steel weapon.

She wanted to run out there and stop the attack, to put her arms between Randy and Nexus and shout "Hey, look, I'm fine!". But she knew she couldn't. Wade would make sure there were consequences and Nexus would most likely go to jail or something. Meaning Justin would go with them.

Even though she was unsure of exactly where she stood with the high-flying South African, she wasn't going to lose him like that.

Besides, Nexus, well, they weren't too bad once you got to know them.

Officials and referees suddenly jumped in to escort Orton out of the ring, allowing Nexus to recoup and flee to the locker room. And after a couple of minutes, they filed into the room, groaning and hissing as their injuries began to bother them with pain.

"I don't understand why Randy's doing this." Mady sighed, raking a hand through her hair once they had all found their own seats. "He was insane out there."

Justin hissed when cold ice hit his eye. "You know exactly why he's doing this."

Mady turned to look at him.

"He's attacking _me _because he doesn't have you. Because he _never_ had you. I did."

Mady frowned. "Randy never-"

"Why is he doing this, then?" Justin demanded. "Huh, Mady? Why?"

"I don't know. But it's Randy. He was-"

"He was a complete douche to you." Justin almost shouted.

Mady shifted her weight onto her other foot, shrinking lightly under his words.

"That's how we got together, don't you remember?" Justin asked her, his hand pressed sorely to his throbbing head.

All eyes shifted to her, the rest of Nexus craddling their own sore bones. She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth.

Mady had followed Randy Orton around like a lost little puppy for months, for years even. He'd been her brother's best friend for several years, since the two met in Ohio Valley Wrestling when they were younger. He was as handsome then as he was now.

But he never looked in Mady's direction. Not in the ways she wanted him too. Because, to him, she was always just John's pretty little sister. She was nothing more than a friend.

It tore Mady up inside. She watched him chase and seduce these stunning, long legged women, and she longed to be one of them. She longed for him to lust after her. But she was never pretty enough.

She remembered how Orton would almost boast to her about the women he slept with. Or about his girlfriend, if he had one at the time. He'd go into detail, because to him Mady was that friend who'd been around for years, one of the boys almost.

And she'd sit there and listen to him without a word.

But then she'd go off and cry her eyes out, because she was nothing to him. Nothing but a kid.

Not until she started to fill out into her skin. Her legs toned themselves, her stomach slimmed, and her breasts filled out comfortably. And within a couple of weeks, her face matured some, becoming a stunning mask of beauty.

That's when he started to notice her. That's when he started to want her. But it was too late for Orton to make his move.

One time, during the Nexus's round of NXT, Mady had bumped into Justin Gabriel in the hotel garden. And it wasn't long before they were together, and all thoughts of Randy were gone.

It made sense to her now.

"He liked me back," Mady realized quietly.

"Yeah, Mady, he did." Justin nodded from across the room. "You have no idea. He used to threaten that he would end me if I didn't end things with you."

"What?"

"He wanted me to dump you, so that you would go running back to him." Justin threw his arms into the air, regretting the action when the pain shot down his shoulders. "He wanted you, Mady. But he only wanted you because you grew up, because you filled out into this stunning woman."

"But, I don't-"

"You were taken and he couldn't stand that."

"That's why he's attacking Justin." Otunga looked to the South African for confirmation. "Not because he thinks we have you, but because you dumped Justin and didn't run to Randy like he'd expected."

"Exactly." Justin nodded. "He wants nothing more than for you to chase after him like you used too."

It was a lot for Mady to take in, but it slowly sunk in through her skull and everything was making sense.

It bothered her more than she expected it too. Randy only wanted her on _his_ terms, on _his _conditions. She waited for him for three years, and got nothing in return. She went through emotional hell for him, and got nothing in return.

It wasn't saddness she was feeling, but anger.

How could he put her through all of that and expect her to run back to him when he wants her too?

"Fucking Orton..." she growled, tucking her arms across her chest.

Nexus looked almost amused at her reaction.

After a long moment, she threw a confident glance at Wade by the door. "I have a plan."

He eyed her, nodding his head as if to tell her to continue.

"I say we screw with his head. Like he screwed with mine."

A smirk slowly gripped Wade's lips. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"You'll see." Mady told him, an unfamiliar smirk on her own glossed lips. "But Wade,"

"Yeah?"

"I want in."

His reply was short, and pleased. "Welcome to Nexus."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

"Welcome back to Monday Night Raw, folks. As we come back from the commercial break, Randy Orton currently has his opponent, David Otunga, in a headlock." Michael Cole watches from his seat beside Jerry "The King" Lawler.

Lawler nods. "Harris, McGillicutty and Sheffield also here at ringside."

"Now, King, Otunga can not be feeling a hundred percent after the beating Randy Orton gave him and the rest of Nexus last night with that steel chair."

"Randy Orton seems to harbor a lot of anger towards the seven members of Nexus. He's attacked them with a steel chair two nights in a row."

"If you've noticed, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater are missing from ringside tonight. I can only imagine that this is due to injuries sustained during last nights attack."

"And with Barrett gone, I think David Otunga is looking to lead the pack." King adds. "Oh, and a big knee to the chest by Orton."

"And another." Cole continues. "King, Nexus are three members down tonight. This could cause potential problems for the group, if one of the many superstars they've attacked decide to seek revenge."

"Yeah. With only four members out here, I'd say there is a possibility that they might be outnumbered for once." King notes.

Cole is distracted by the action in the ring. "Ladies and gentleman, as the match continues, it seems like Randy Orton is setting Otunga up for a head punt. This has put an end to superstars such as-"

He's stopped when the arena lights switch off.

"What the-" King leaves his sentence open, having no clue to what is happening.

"Uh," Cole is just as dumbfounded. "Ladies and gentleman, it appears that the arena lights have just, well, switched off momentarily. I'm not too sure-"

"Do you remember what happened last time the lights went off during a match, Cole?" King suddenly remembers, his voice climbing in pitch.

As the two start to discuss the subject of Mady's kidnapping, Randy stands silently in the ring.

He can hear Otunga spluttering and coughing to his left, and the other three Nexus idiots on the outside. He lifts his fists, in case they decide to attack him while he's blind.

A static, crackling turns his attention to the jumbo-tron above the ramp. It's turning on, grey and black lines filling the space where the RAW symbol should be.

"What is this?" Michael Cole asks no one in particular.

Nothing in his briefing said anything about a blackout or a video sequence. He was just about to put it down to technical difficulties when the static dissapeared and it was replaced by a face.

It was unrecognizable, hidden behind a black balaclava. Satisfied that the camera is set up correctly, and sitting straight, the person moves aside.

As his large black body moves out of frame, it's replaced by a sight no one in the arena was expecting to see.

Mady Cena tied tightly to a dusty, wooden chair.

Randy's hair on the back of his neck stands on end, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach. It was her. It was Mady. He found himself stepping forward until his chest hit the top rope, his eyes glued to the screen.

"It's Mady!" King errupts from his seat, his voice as high as it will go in shock. "Can you believe it? It's Mady!"

The crowd is just as shocked as he is. And a mixture of gasps and cries fill the air as they watch the young woman helpless against the ropes that bound her.

Another black figure, smaller than the first, appears beside the chair, their hand reaching down to roughly tear the piece of silver duct tape from her lips.

She winces in pain. And Randy launches forward on the ropes angrily, wanting to tear the hand right off the arm it came from.

"Don't you touch her!" He shouts, knowing that they can't hear him at all.

"Randy." Mady cries out loudly, her voice breaking into a harsh sob afterwards.

It made his heart wrench in his chest. And his knuckles almost broke through the skin at how hard he was grasping the rope.

Mady's eyes are swollen and red, and when they connect with his through the screen. He suddenly feels sick to his stomach. She's begging for him, and he's just standing there.

Why is he just standing there?

"Randy, help me." she sobs again, thrashing gently against the ropes. "Please. Please, Randy, help me. They-"

Randy launches forward on his toes again when the same hand from before clamps over her mouth, stiffling her cries. She thrashes in the chair, sobs breaking through her assailant's fingers.

"Let her go, you son of a bitch!" Randy shouts, rage bubbling inside him.

The camera suddenly moves backwards, as if someone is now carrying it in their hand.

As the picture blows out to a better view of the room, it's dark and empty with only a few chairs sitting in the corner. But with the new, extended view shows Mady in a full body shot.

She's in the chair in nothing but her underwear, the ropes sliding against the skin on her stomach and bare legs.

A third black figure appears, his hands sliding against her thighs. The one holding her uses his free hand to brush the hair off the side of her neck, lowering his lips to her skin.

"No-" Randy panics. "No, no, no, no."

The black figure holding the camera turns it towards himself, the screen shutting off a second later. The arena-back to complete darkness-is left in silence.

Not a person moves, or breathes.

What did they just see?

_Was that even real?_

_._

Wade reaches up to pull the balaclava from his head, putting it down beside the hand-held camera they'd borrowed from some kid on the fourth floor. It'd taken them a little while to get the seven year old to hand it over, but fifty bucks out of Heath's pocket and they were ready to roll.

It hadn't taken them long to hack into the arena's jumbo-tron either, but you don't need to know how. That's a secret.

Heath pulls his balaclava off next, also removing his hands from Mady's legs. "Wow." he lets out a small laugh as he stands. "I mean, wow. That was-That was pretty cool there, Mads."

Mady turns her head to look at him, her blond hair falling messily over her face. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. That's great and all, but can you, like, untie me now?"

Heath laughs.

Justin smirks from somewhere behind her, tossing his balaclava aside. "You know, I kind of like the idea of you being tied up."

"_Ha Ha Ha_." Mady mutters sarcastically, with a roll of her eyes. "You're so funny, J."

This only makes Heath laugh harder.

"Heath thinks I am." Justin grins.

Wade suddenly tosses the backpack of cables at Justin's chest roughly, causing him to catch it and stumble back a step or two. "Get that to the car."

"Now, Gabriel." Wade orders, pointing at the door when the South African fails to move. Eventually, Justin obeys. Wade then focuses his eyes on Mady.

She's wiggling impatiently in the chair. "You alright?"

She looks up at him when his voice addresses her, and nods her head. "Yeah. Well, I will be when Slater can undo the knots back there."

Heath's head of red hair appears over her shoulder.

"Hey." he warns. "I'm trying back here. But Justin did a pretty good job tying these damn things. Like, geez, was he a boy scout in Africa or something?"

Mady rolls her eyes, a soft laugh leaving her lips.

"So," she looks up at Wade again, figuring it was best to let Heath untie the knots in his own time. Her wiggling was obviously not helping. "How'd I do?"

Wade thinks about it and actually smiles at her. "You did great. Orton's probably going insane, right now. And that's exactly what we want."

She grins back, almost proud at her previous acting.

"Well,_ tah-duh_." Heath breaks the moment as he pulls one more rope-end and they fall to the carpet. "You're free."

"Took you long enough." Mady shoves him lightly with a smirk, and begins to stretch out her stiff arms.

Wade gently throws her a bundle of clothes as he heads for the door, a satisfied smile on his lips. "Put your clothes on and lets get out of here. I'm starving."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

Heath shuffled his white plastic fork around in his noodles, the soft hum of the television playing out behind him. He was seated on the carpet beside the small coffee table, his legs stretched out comfortably as he rested his back against the bottom of the sofa.

"So, tell me." He munched on a mouthfull of noodles and glaced to his right.

Mady was also sitting on the floor, sitting cross legged a foot or so from him. She had her food set out before her, and was in the process of downing her second bottle of Mountain Dew.

"Tell you what?"

Heath munched on a mouthfull of noodles. "What you're doing in Nexus."

Wade tossed the remote aside, now interested in hearing the woman's answer.

He would admit it, though only to himself, that he liked having her around. At first he had kidnapped her with the sole intention to get under Cena's skin. But to actually have her be a part of Nexus was something he liked the sound of.

"Do you not want me here?" Mady asked, screwing the lid back onto the bottle she was holding.

"No, it's not that." Heath replied. "It's just that, well, I guess I wasn't exactly expecting it."

Mady smiled at him, nodding her head in acknowledgement. No one would have picked this. Which was kind of the point.

"I'm just tired of being in his shadow." Mady began with a small shrug, reffering to her older brother. "Even growing up, that's all I ever was. _'Cena's little sister'_. I mean, I'm twenty-four. I want to be my own person now. You know?"

"And that's not working out for you." Heath nodded, shoving another forkfull of noodles into his mouth.

"No." Mady agreed. "I've been trying for a while now, but, it's not really getting me anywhere. I'm sick of it. Nexus, it's-it'll give me a new start."

Heath raised his eyebrow. "You want to be a bad guy?"

"I don't think you're bad guys." Mady frowned, with another small shrug rolling off her shoulders. "I think you're fighting for the same thing I am. You want to be known. You want people to look at you, whether that's in fear or in adoration, and you want to make an impact. Right?"

She looked to Wade for the answer, him having been the one to start Nexus in the first place. "Right."

"See," Mady looked back to Heath. "I'm on the same page as you are."

"Besides," she continued with a small smirk when neither of them spoke. "You guys aren't so bad, after all."

Heath laughed, rolling his eyes at his new, well, _friend_.

It was odd to think like that, considering they'd started out by kidnapping her and holding her hostage, but having a woman in the group could be a nice change. And it would definitely give them an edge in the appearance department. Mady wasn't bad too look at, at all. And when she wore those little dresses-oh man, even thinking about it made him gooey.

"Here's to Nexus." Heath raised his half-empty bottle of Lemonade, in attempt to lighten the mood.

Wade was sitting to the far end of the sofa, his side resting against the arm-rest. He smiled at the young woman on the floor in front of him, getting lost in her laugh as she too raised her bottle in the air. The two plastic bottles clunked lightly together before they were set back to their places on the carpet. He continued to watch Mady, as her hair fell in front of her face and she brought her manicured hand up to brush it aside.

His perfect view was shattered though, when Justin Gabriel lowered himself to the spot beside Mady. As the South African lay on his stomach, stealing french fries from her plate, he gazed at her in adoration.

Wade swallowed the lump of jealousy in his throat. He knew their friendship, or rather their love for one another, was beginning to return. And it bugged him.

Look, Wade didn't want to admit that he had feelings for her. But the more he denied himself that, the more they crept into his head and toyed with his thoughts. To have someone as beautiful as Mady within reach but out of his grasp was becoming too much to handle.

He was grateful when someone began to knock at the door. The conversation and noise between the three other members ceased, in case the visitor was someone unexpected.

It was only Otunga, McGillitcutty, Husky and Skip.

"Orton completely lost it." Husky announced before either of the others could as they walked into the room. He spotted the cluster of food set on the carpet. "Oh, hey, are those french fries?"

Mady laughed briefly at him, sliding the pack of fries across the carpet to him. And, distracted by food, he failed to continue his recount of events.

Otunga, who appeared to be limping towards the sofa, dropped down with a sore sigh.

"You alright, Otunga?" Heath asked when no else did.

"Orton put him through the announcers table not long after your video stream ended." Skip explained, having taken a box of noodles and a fork from the floor.

"He went insane." McGillicutty, who had a gash above his eye, explained. "He attacked me with the steel steps."

Wade wasn't interested in his team mates injuries. He leant forward. "And Cena?"

"He threw a fit in catering." Husky was talking with his mouth full. "Kicked over a few tables and put his fist through the wall. A couple of superstars were able to calm him down"

"Yeah, _eventually_." McGillicutty added with a small snort.

Their plan, or rather Mady's plan, had done what they'd wanted it too.

It might have been wrong for Mady to be with Nexus, fighting against her older brother and his best friend. But she was finally able to be her own person.

And it might have been wrong to mess with Orton's feelings or thoughts like that, too. But, then again, he had screwed her around for three years. So, fuck his feelings. He never cared about hers.

Wade too looked pleased with their work.

He looked down to where Mady was sitting and his eyes connected with hers. Kind of in a "the plan is in progress" sort of way. And when her lips curled up into a soft smile, he couldn't resist to do the same.

Mady looked away, though, after only a couple of seconds. It was Justin who had distracted her, his smile radiating from his lips as he stared up at her with his eyebrow raised. "Can we tie you up again next time?"

Nexus chuckled at his suggestion, having obviously enjoyed the view of her bound in ropes in nothing but her underwear.

Mady shoved Justin's arm lightly, her laugh ringing out with the rest. "We'll see."


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

Mady lay on the bed with Justin, the two laughing at the jokes they were reading from the book they'd found in Husky's suitcase. They were terrible, but that's what made them funny. Justin was in the middle of one about an orange when they heard voices in the hall outside.

_"Sir, it's late. They might be asleep."_

_"No, no, no, they don't sleep. They'll be there, just tell me what room."_

**John Cena. **

_"But Sir..."_

_"What room!"_

**John Cena** was in the hallway.

_"415. The fourth door on the right."_

**John Cena** was heading straight for their room.

_Shit_.

A plan, however loose and scattered it was, filled Mady's head and she quickly rolled onto Justin, leaving him with a surprised and bewildered look when she was suddenly straddling his waist. He was even more lost when she tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.

But, he then caught on to her plan, tugging his own shirt off. His hands found her hips, one sliding down until it was sitting on her thigh.

Heath dove onto the couch, finding the remote under his leg when he landed, and began to act as though he had been there the whole time. Skip stood at the kitchen counter and filled a glass with water to make it look like he had something to do.

Otunga, McGillicutty and Husky were in the next room, probably asleep.

Someone was right outside their room. They could see the shadows under the door. And sure enough, there was a loud sharp knock, and just as Wade had turned the door handle, it had swung open and John Cena had barged into the room.

"Alright, I got questions and I want answers!"

Wade had almost been knocked over, not expecting the man to enter with such force.

"Cena." he shouted, as Heath looked on from the couch and Skip from the kitchen area. "You can't just march in here unannounced."

"Now you listen here, Barre-" John was suddenly distracted from his tirade when his eyes drifted towards the bed in the corner of the room.

He could see the bare back of a tanned woman, her shoulder blades and back muscles moving under her skin. Her bright pink bra was still clamped together at the back, and her long blond locks fell over her shoulders onto the man beneath her.

Cena suddenly realized what he'd walked in on, what he was watching. Justin Gabriel was having sex with some unknown woman right before his eyes.

Justin pretended to finally see the intruder, and threw the covers over Mady as she slid under them to hide at his side. He held the cotton sheets to his body, his bare chest still visible above them though Mady was completely covered below. "Do you mind!"

John quickly spun on his heels and turned his back to the South African, almost shocked at what he'd witnessed. Dissapointment bubbled at his insides.

_This_ Justin Gabriel was not the one he knew. It was not the same respectful, shy man that his little sister had fallen for. _This_ Justin Gabriel was disrespectful and arrogant, with a growing attitude and a decreasing lack of care.

John knew he needed to have a serious talk with this kid. Or a good ass kicking.

Cena turned around to glare at the younger man, pointing at him with an angry finger. "You. Me. Outside." he gritted through his teeth. "_Now_."

Wade had the door open, and Cena walked right out, his hands balled into fists at his side.

When the door clicked shut, no one moved. No one breathed. No one could believe that they had actually gotten out of that alive.

"_Holy shit_." Heath suddenly announced slowly, his eyes wide.

"_That_." Justin tugged the sheets off Mady, so she could sit up. "Was too close."

Mady blew a breath of air out of her cheeks, nodding. "_Way_ too close."

Wade scowled at the view of Justin and Mady half-naked in the bed together. "Get dressed, Gabriel." he ordered. "We've got to go talk to Cena."

Justin nodded and tugged a shirt over his head, before he left the room with Wade. He was pulling the new shirt over his head just as they stopped in front of an angry-looking Cena.

"Now you listen here," Cena started before either of the other two could talk. His eyes were dark, and they rested on Justin. "I've had the worst night-my little sister is out there somewhere with three sick bastards, and I just watched a video where they put their hands on her. On top of that, I just walked in on Mr. South Africa here having sex, not giving a fuck in the world about my missing sister."

Justin clenched his jaw and looked down, away from Cena's burning stare.

"So do not-_do not _tempt me to put your sorry asses through this wall. Because I will."

Wade had no change of facial expression. It was as serious as it always was. "What do you want, Cena?"

Cena's eyes snapped to him. "I want to know everything you know about my sister's dissapearance."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come onnnn, Wade." Cena harsh-laughed. "You always have reinforcements. You always have back-up. You always have two or three new additions up your sleeve. And you get rid of them as quickly as they come. Bryan, Young, Tarver; you booted their asses to the corner."

Justin and Wade shared a look.

Cena continued. "So I want to know if they were bitter enough to seek revenge by taking Mady."

"Mady has nothing to do with Nexus." Wade told him, although that had recently become a lie. "Why would they take her to get revenge on us?"

"I don't know." Cena announced, almost hopelessly. "But I'm running out of leads. I'm running out of options, here. Maria says she sees Mady by herself at a bar, and then tonight she's with the three masked men that took her, and- look, none of this is making any sense."

Justin let his eyes wonder to the side, checking out the horrible wallpaper glued along the hallway. He hadn't noticed that he'd drifted from the conversation until Cena was standing in his face.

"I am getting_ real _sick of your attitude, homeboy." he gritted through his teeth, his forehead bumping roughly against Justin's.

Justin shoved him. There was no need for Cena to be in his face. He hadn't done anything wro-okay, so that wasn't exactly a valid argument. But having Cena in your face with those dark eyes and that glare, was pretty uncomfortable.

Wade stepped between the two men, his arms outstretched to keep them apart. He was too tired to start anything with Cena, and the hotel hallway wasn't the place. He and Mady still had more of the plan up their sleeves, and they needed to save their energy for that.

"I don't know what my sister ever saw in you." Cena spat past Wade at Justin, shaking his head. "You claim to love her, but you won't do a damn thing to find her."

"Just think." John laughed a short, harsh laugh when Justin didn't reply. "When Orton's the one to find her, when he's the one to save her. She'll go running to him, and she'll forget _all_ about Justin Gabriel-"

Justin's head snapped up and he launched himself forward, shoving the taller man as hard as he could. The thought of Mady leaving him for Randy, although it had a very little chance of happening at that moment, still made his skin crawl.

He had only just sort of, kind of got her back. And there was no way in hell he was going to lose her to Orton.

John stepped backwards and let Wade push Justin back in place. He laughed, low, harsh and amused. "See, kid, you do care. But if you keep this attitude up, he's going to be with her. Not you."

"She wouldn't." Justin denied, shaking his head with his jaw clenched.

"She liked him for three years, Gabriel." John reminded him throwing his arms into the air, beginning to step backwards towards the elevator, the doors starting to close on him once he was inside. "That doesn't just go away, kid."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

I'm so sorry this took so long! I had to fly back home across the country, so I was busy with packing and whatnot. But I finally got this completed after writing it three times. I hope it's okay, and I hope you guys like it. _You're the best. _Also, I'd like to know who you like seeing Mady with; Gabriel, Orton or Barrett. I'm just curious, is all.

.

"Justin." Mady frowned upon seeing his jaw clenched tight and his fists balled. He walked right past her to the balcony, needing to get out into the fresh air. She followed him out, quickly gripping at his arm.

"Justin, what happened?" she demanded, trying to calm him down. "What did he say to you?"

Justin shrugged her hands off, feeling oddly uncomfortable under her usually calming touch. He turned to stare at her. "Do you love Orton?"

Mady was almost taken aback at the question, and at his tone. "_What_?"

"Randy Orton." Justin shouted. "Do you love him?"

"No!" Mady answered. "No, J., I don't. I'm in Nexus to take him down, not to be with him."

"You loved him for three years, Mady."

"And then I loved you. I got over it, J., because I loved you."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Don't you love me, J.?"

Justin sighed. "You know I love you, Mady—"

"Then why are we having this conversation? I love you, you love me. What else is there?"

Justin stared at her, his eyes watering as the tears welled helplessly. He knew that she loved him, however much or however little it was. But he couldn't shake the feeling that her love for Orton was somewhere there too.

"Why do we always do this, J.?" Mady slowly looked up at him through teary eyes, he could see them rolling down her cheeks. "We _always_ fight each other about this."

"I don't want to fight with you." she continued when he did nothing but sniffle and wipe his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I hate talking about this. I love you, you know that, and—and that should be enough."

"Love is never enough for us." Justin's voice cracked gently under the weight of his unshed tears. "We always want more."

"Yeah, well, there is _nothing _more, Justin." she told him.

It was quiet for a very long moment and neither of them moved a muscle. When Justin finally did look back at her, his eyes were drained, empty and sad.

"Yeah," he swallowed. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Mady looked at him, the tears still warm on her eyelashes. She silently begged him not to say what she knew was coming next.

Justin's voice was quiet, pained. "Maybe there is nothing more for us."

Mady gasped silently as the familiar break spread through her chest. It was as though all the wind had been knocked out of her and she stood there unable to suck in a breath for a long time.

Justin, about to break himself, turned and fled inside, swallowing the lump in his throat and ignoring the urge to turn back around and kiss her and tell her that there's always something more for them. But he'd said what he'd said.

And once you've said something, it's out there, and you _can't_ take it back.

Wade looked up, upon hearing the glass balcony door shut with a soft thud.

It was Justin who had entered the room, appearing to be an emotional wreck— worse off than when he'd walked out there not too long ago. Wade noticed that the South African was almost in tears when he slammed the bathroom door shut, the lock clicking closed a second later.

Uninterested in Justin's feelings, Wade hurried towards the glass door to check on Mady. He slid it open, his eyes scanning the balcony for her. It was in the corner that he found her, sitting with her back against the wall and her knees to her chest.

She was crying, shaking almost.

Wade rested his hand on her shoulder as comfortingly as he could. He wasn't sure if she'd heard him walk outside, and scaring her wasn't something he wanted to do.

Mady's body trembled under his touch, having not expected company. But sensing that someone was now kneeling beside her, she half expected it to be Heath. But, as another sharp sob slipped through her lips, she turned her face up to meet Wade's.

It was the light of the moon that allowed him to see her features in the dark. She was looking at him helplessly, the familiar break in her chest drawing breath from her lungs. Wade didn't have words prepared. He was unsure of what to say to make her feel better.

He, like much of the male population, was no good with emotional women.

But he knew she needed to be comforted. He shifted his legs under himself, until he dropped down onto the balcony beside her, his back, like hers, resting against the wall.

He didn't say anything, just stared out through the balcony gate to the glistening city lights below. It was a long moment before he felt her move. She leaned sideways, melting into the side of his chest as her arms snaked around his torso.

Wade hadn't been expecting such close contact, but allowed his arm to fall down her back until he was pulling her closer. In turn, she buried her damp cheeks into the soft fabric of his shirt, gripping it in her fists tightly.

Wade stared at her lips, so plump and full. He found himself wondering how they would feel moving against his. Well, if he leaned down an inch or so further, he could taste them for himself.

With a sudden kick of courage, he did.

Mady didn't move, almost shivering under such a cautious kiss. It was unfamiliar, soft and oddly alluring.

Having not been shoved or scolded for his actions, Wade allowed his lips to press against hers with a little more force. And when her tongue danced against his, the addicting taste of strawberries filled his mouth.

Mady was unsure of what she was doing. It was as though the rational side of her brain had dived over the balcony, leaving her head with irrational and stupid decisions. Like this one, this kiss with Wade was not something that should be happening.

But she was finding it hard to stop what she had started.

And it was becoming harder by the second, with his arm gripping her around the waist until he had pulled her on top of him. Her chest bumped against his without breaking their lips, and his fingers danced under the hem of her shirt, gliding against the bare skin of her stomach under the cotton.

It was then that the elastic band in her head snapped.

_This_, whatever this was, or whatever it was becoming, had to stop. And it had to stop now.

"I can't." she scrambled off his lap, finding her feet. She had her fingertips pressed to her lips, where his had once been. "I can't do this."

Wade, having finally tasted the forbidden fruit, was addicted, and he was too far from breaking the habit now. He pushed himself to his feet, needing to talk some sense into her head.

He was her best option, and she needed to see that. Justin was unimportant. She'd left him once, she could do it again. And Randy Orton was nothing but a heartbreaker, who wanted nothing more than to break her little heart all over again.

He, Wade Barrett, was better than the two of them combined.

"Mady." he reached out to take her hand, but she retracted it and took two steps back.

"Don't." she swallowed, shaking her head. "Don't say anything_. This_—" she gestured between them. "_This_ never happened."

With that, she turned and hurried into the hotel room, leaving him on the balcony alone with the taste of her still lingering on his tongue.

It would haunt him in the nights to come.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

And I agree with what most of you answered—I do love Justin with Mady, rather than the other two. So thank you for taking part in that little question thing with me. Let me know what you like and I suppose dislike about this next chapter—because I know it will stir things up a little.

.

Mady creeps out of the bathroom. She'd been in there for quite some time—after her kiss with Wade Barrett—wanting the members of Nexus to be completely asleep before she let herself back into the room. The last thing she needed was to come face to face with Justin.

But luckily, after their argument, he had switched places with Otunga and was now bunked in the adjacent room with McGillicutty and Harris.

The soft snore from Heath was the only thing she heard as she tiptoed across the room towards the little fridge in the corner. Upon opening it, her eyes rested on the un-opened bottle of Jack Daniels. The little price card on the counter said it would charge sixty dollars to the room holder's tab if opened.

At that point, she couldn't care less.

Wade could pay for it, considering he was the reason she wanted a drink so bad.

She filled a small glass with ice cubes and took the bottle of Jack out onto the balcony with her, closing the glass door. She cracked it open, topping the glass up with the dark golden liquid, twirling it around the glass carefully as the ice cubes clinked against one another.

Then, she pressed it to her lips, downing the whole glass in only a couple of gulps. It burned at her throat, but the warmth spread throughout her skin, and she poured herself another glass.

Stupid Justin Gabriel.

If he hadn't of snapped at her, if he hadn't of walked out on her, Wade Barrett would have never walked onto that balcony, and he would never have kissed her.

And stupid Wade Barrett.

Who does he think he is, coming out there and kissing her like that anyway?

There's where she sat for the next hour, pouring glass after glass of Jack Daniels, feeling it start to mess with her head. She went to pour another glass when she realized the bottle was empty.

"Great." she slurred, placing it on the floor beneath her chair.

With her head beginning to spin and bitterness on her tongue, she opens the glass door and stumbles back into the hotel room as quietly as she can. Heath stirs from his place on the couch when she accidentally knocks the lamp off the table, but his eyes remained closed and his snores loud.

Close call.

She crawls atop the bed, nearing his sleeping, and softly snoring form.

He wakes upon feeling another source of weight on the mattress and props himself up onto his elbows. He knows that it's her by her outline, and by the intoxicating smell of strawberries.

He can also smell Jack Daniels, which brings a whole list of questions to the front of his mind.

He's about to question her on this situation, when he feels her weight shift onto him. Her legs are now straddling his waist and she grips the crease of his neck as she crashes her lips down onto his. He's stunned in his position beneath her, deciding that he has to be dreaming this whole thing up.

But when she tugs on his lower lip with her teeth, he knows that this is far from a dream.

Sure, he can taste the Jack Daniels on her tongue—and this was all happening in a drunken stupor, no doubt—but the sole fact that she had climbed into bed with him was good enough for Wade Barrett to seize the moment.

He moans, snatching her around the waist to roll them both over until she's beneath him. It's an addicting mix of alcohol and strawberries—two of his favorite things.

Mady tugs his shirt off mid-kiss, chucking it to the carpet below the bed, and runs her hands across his built chest.

It's not as defined as Justin's—mostly because Barrett is a whole lot taller than the South African—but it's unfamiliar and unknown, and in her drunken moment that alone has her craving more.

She feels his lips move from hers to the skin on the crease of her neck—trailing his warm tongue across salty skin—and it earns him a soft moan from the woman beneath him.

There was nothing left between her and Justin—_"Maybe there is nothing more for us."—_which is exactly what the South African had said to her hours earlier.

And therefore, she shouldn't feel a single drop of guilt. Right?

But that didn't stop his words from repeating themselves rather loudly over and over and over again in her mind. It was the only thing she could hear as Wade's tongue caressed her bottom lip.

_Justin _left her.

_Justin_ walked out.

It might have been a little quick of her to jump into bed with Barrett like this. And stupid. But something in the back of her mind wanted to tease Justin, to torture him—to make him see that leaving her was a rather big mistake.

If that meant using Wade for her own personal gain, then so be it.

She must have been pretty hammered.

As their bodies shifted together between the bed sheets, their moans almost in sync with one another, Mady decides that nothing but good can come from this slip-up.

Wade was the leader of Nexus—he had all the power and rank.

And as he melted against her, he whispered large promises of power and prestige into her ear—things Justin Gabriel could never give her.

"We'd be the power couple." he told her. And she knew it was true.

She could have anything she wanted under his arm—expensive clothes and jewellery, protection and the women's championship—it could all be hers with a click of his fingers.

But her head began to throb harshly, with her new found ego in addition to the alcohol.

"I want you." Wade whispers into her ear as she throws back her head with a moan.

It's then that the same mental elastic band snaps inside her head—letting her know that this was a horrible, terrible and completely insane thing to do.

What the heck was she doing?

What the heck was she _thinking_?

Well, that was the thing.

She _wasn't_—the _alcohol _was.

He trails his lips along her shoulder as he collapses onto the mattress beside her. But she rolls away from him and sits up on the edge of the bed, pulling her shirt back over her head.

"Mady." Wade tries, resting on his elbow.

She ignores him, standing to pull her pants on.

"Mady, don't do this."

"_Don't_." she tells him, the same way she had after their kiss on the balcony.

"Oh, come on." he exclaims, his voice marred with anger. "_You _got into bed with _me_."

"Shut up, would you." she whispers harshly, afraid that one of the sleeping Nexus members would hear them. She runs her hand through her hair. "This—_this_ was a mistake. A very, _very_ big mistake."

Wade shakes his head, his temper flaring. "You wanted this, Mady."

"No. No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Or you wouldn't have had sex with me just now."

"I'm drunk, Wade."

"Drunk or not, you _want _to be with me."

"No—"

"Justin is in the other room, Mady. If you really loved him, you would have crawled into _his_ bed, not mine."

"Just—" Mady tugged on her hair a little. He was wrong. Of course she loved Justin, she was just, she was just _angry_ at him, that's all. "Just shut up. This never happened, you hear me—it _never _happened."

"Yes, it did."

"You tell Justin, or anyone about this Wade, and I swear to God—" she pointed a stern finger at him, letting a short, harsh laugh leave her lips. "I swear to _God _I'll run to John and have your ass thrown into jail for kidnapping."

He glared at her but said nothing more.

She snatched a pillow from his bed, moving to sleep beside the couch where Heath was. And her stomach twisted and turned inside her at the thought of what had just occurred.

Drunk or not, she felt like she was going to be sick.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

"Did I sleep through something last night?"

Heath's certain he did, because no one has spoken a word since he's been up. Justin hasn't slept well. Heath can tell by the heavy shades and circles under his best friend's tired eyes. And because the South African was snappy—he'd be fine one minute and tearing you to pieces the next.

Wade looked unsure about something—like he had a crucial and costly secret that he couldn't tell. He was so distracted that he hadn't even shouted or barked orders at a single member of Nexus.

And Heath was uncertain about the young blond woman sitting beside him. He considered her to be his friend and they seemed to get along better than most of the others did, but there was something about her this morning that screamed tension.

She looked up at him from the book in her hand when he spoke with a inquisitive glance.

He needed to elaborate. "It feels like the North Pole in here. I mean, you could cut the tension with a knife. I had to have slept through something important last night to wake up to _this_."

Mady swallowed, making it look as natural and un-suspicious as she could. It had been a long and emotional night—and to make matters a whole lot worse—she'd woken up with a killer headache from her midnight snack of Jack Daniels and sex.

"You didn't sleep through anything, Heath."

Heath was still unsure.

Mady sighed and leant towards him a little, lowering her voice. "Okay, so, I had a little argument with Justin. It's— well—things between us aren't _good _right now."

Heath was sad to hear that. Justin was his best friend and he knew how deep his love for this woman ran. He also knew how stubborn the two of them could be—or, in this case, were being.

Wade moved across the room, and Heath watched his unusually tense leader.

"Don't you worry about Barrett." Mady tells him when she notices, hiding the tension in her tone. "He's too caught up in the plan to think about anything else."

Heath nods.

"Oh." he says suddenly, recalling the completely empty bottle of Jack Daniels he'd found on the balcony this morning. "Did you drink all the JD to yourself?"

"Huh?"

"The bottle of Jack Daniels." Heath throws his thumb over his shoulder towards the balcony, although he'd thrown out the bottle an hour ago. "I found it on the balcony. I was just wondering who had been drinking it."

Mady couldn't tell him that she'd downed the entire thing herself. And she certainly couldn't tell him what it had made her do afterwards.

"Oh." she licks her lips, her mind reeling for an explanation. "Uh, well, you see—"

Her mind was pulling blank after blank.

And she's about to give in and confess to sneaking the alcohol herself when Wade appears at the table beside them. He's overheard the tail end of their conversation and his eyes bore into the side of her face as he speaks.

"Mady and I couldn't sleep last night." he says, fighting off the smirk that's pulling at the corners of his lips. "Could we, _Mads_?"

Mady turns her head towards him, a glare fairly evident in her features.

"Yeah." she finally agrees through her teeth.

Heath doesn't seem to catch it. "You two drank the whole bottle yourselves?" he lets out a low whistle. "That must have been one hell of a conversation."

Mady feels sick to her stomach again as the night pours back into her skull like alcohol into a glass.

"Oh, it was." Wade lets the smirk cross his lips this time—his words so obviously referring back to their stunt between the bed sheets.

Mady wants to kick him.

She wants to spear him to the floor and wring his neck for being so god damn arrogant. Heath might have been a little thick at times but he could unravel their secret with a drop of a hat.

Or, as it seemed, a drop of a _hint_.

"We were going over the plan." Mady tells Heath, her eyes harsh and cold on Barrett. "Other than that, there was _nothing_ to it."

It all seems to go right over Heath's head.

The redhead nods and decides to move on with the conversation, eager to know what or where they'd be going next.

"So," he leans forward a little. "What happens now?"

"Yeah, Mady." Wade stares down at her almost cynically. "What happens now?"

She catches that he's suggesting the next step in their "relationship".

Not that they had one.

No.

"_Nothing_." she tells him, almost cruelly.

She remembers that it had been Heath to ask the question to begin with, and turns her attention to him. "Nothing." she repeats a little calmer. "Not until we can find a cell phone or some source of communication, so that I can make a distressing call to Orton myself—without it being traced back to our asses."

Heath looks interested. "You're going to _call _him?"

"We've shown him a glimpse of me. He knows that I'm being tied up and touched by whoever has me. Calling him mid-hysterics will fire him up." she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and closes her book. "He can't see me, so he can only imagine what's happening on our end of the line."

Heath chuckles briefly, shaking his head. "I worry about you sometimes. You're so—"

Mady waits for him to finish.

Heath finds the right words. "—like _us_."

Mady cracks a small smile, taking the compliment light heartedly.

She was changing before her own eyes and she hadn't yet decided whether that was a positive or a negative thing. All she knew was that she was beginning to make such negative choices.

She rests her eyes on Justin, who is looking tired and miserable. He feels the weight of her stare and looks up in time to catch her eyes.

He was—perhaps—her biggest negative choice yet.

But she knows that she would re-make that choice without hesitation. She would re-make it over and over and over because it was _him_—it was Justin Gabriel. And she loved him.

And you were never completely "_done"_ with the people you love.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

It's late—a little past eleven—when Randy Orton walks back into his locker room after the show. He's tired and worn out from his match against The Miz and wants nothing more than to grab his belongings and head to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

It's when he goes to swipe a few loose shirts into his suitcase that he notices his cell phone flashing on the bench.

Its beeping lets him know that he's missed a call, and as he flips it open he notices that the number is not one he recognizes or has in his contact list.

Nonetheless, the caller has left him a voicemail message.

He presses the necessary numbers and uses his shoulder to hold the device to his ear as he scoots around the room to collect his things, tossing them into the open suitcase by the sofa.

"_You have one new voice message_." the automated woman tells him. "_Message received at 8:54PM_."

8:54PM—right in the middle of his match.

There was a low beep before the message could begin. It was silent at first with nothing but soft, ragged breathing somewhere in the background. He frowned as he continued to listen, thinking that a fan had somehow managed to find his number and decided to pull a prank on him.

It happened to Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger not too long ago. The latter of which had to change his number because the woman who kept calling him turned out to be a stalker and got a little too close one time on a plane.

Randy mumbled something about the person wasting his time when a sudden voice caught his attention. It was faint at first, and from where he stood frozen in the middle of the room, he was unsure if he was hearing correctly.

But the woman on the other end of the line sounded a whole lot like Mady.

"_Rand_."

Holy shit, it was her.

Mady had called him and he had missed it.

"_Rand."_ by the sound of her voice, she had been or was crying. _"I—I have a message for you and John_." she was obviously reading from something—a cue card or a piece of paper.

The captors had known when his match was and had chosen to call right in the middle of it, so he would be unable to answer. They didn't want him talking to her.

"_Your egos are blocking your vision."_

Randy frowned. What the hell was she—_they_, the captors—what the hell were they talking about?

She sniffled, breathing in before she continued. "_If you stopped feeding them long enough to take a look around, you'd see that I'm a lot closer than you think. I've been in the same room as John twice now. And yet, I'm still here."_ a short sob. "_I—I'm still here_."

He swallowed as he listened to her cry.

"_Where are you, Rand?"_ she sobbed. "_Where—why aren't you here with me? Why can't you find me? Don't you care about me? Don't you care that I'm scared? Don't you—"_

"—_Don't you love me?"_

Randy stood from the bench, having to pace the room to calm his temper. He ran his hand harshly over the top of his head, clenching his jaw tight.

"_I want you to find me, Rand." _

He shuts his eyes as he starts to hear signs of a struggle. The captors annoyed that she's diverted from their written statement.

"_Get off me! Get off—"_ she's being dragged away from the phone, and her screams become even more distant. _"Randy! Randy, help me!" _

And then it happens.

Right before the line goes dead he hears it—almost unheard amongst her screaming and their shouting, he hears her scream "_Quality Inn. 305_."

The Quality Inn Flamingo is a hotel only a couple of streets away.

Randy is up and out of his chair before he has a chance to shut his phone, dashing out of the room to scan the arena for any sign of John Cena.

* * *

"We'll go out the back way, to avoid being seen, and meet you by the cars." Wade tells Mady as he pulls his suitcase to the _Fire Exit_ door. The other members of Nexus are behind them, carting their own belongings out.

Mady nods, not looking him in the face.

He gently grabs her forearm when she goes to walk towards the elevator. "Remember the plan, and—"

"Yeah, I got it." she wriggles from his grip, staring him in the eye. "I did come up with this plan, you know."

He chuckles, amused and walks through the _Fire Exit_ door—which McGillicutty is holding open for him—to the escape stairs. The others can be heard somewhere below, their bags clinking against the steps.

When the door is closed and she is alone in the hall, Mady heads for the elevator and pushes the lobby button. She's walking out a moment later, pulling her hood loosely over her head.

She nears the elderly woman at the front desk at the Quality Inn Flamingo. She's aware that her eyes are still a little swollen and her hair's still a mess, but that'll help sell the story she's cooked up. "I'd like to check out. Room 305."

The woman looks up, her grey hair tied back into a bun. She seems to notice the state the young woman is in, and looks sympathetic. "Uh, the records show that you checked in less than two hours ago."

"That's right."

"And you would like to check out right now?"

"Yes."

The woman leans on the counter, staring softly at Mady. "Have you had a rough day, sweetie?"

"The _roughest_." Mady swallows, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Half of that was not entirely a lie. She was feeling as shitty as she looked—annoyed at Wade, angry at herself, and completely lost with Justin.

The woman reminded her of her mother—so caring and calm. "Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, honey. It helps to talk about things."

Mady wonders what the woman's reaction would be if she started telling the whole story. Right from the beginning—_"Well, you see, I was kidnapped by my ex-boyfriend and his friends. It was hard at first, but then I kind of got to know them. They're alright, I guess. But then I fell in love with my ex-boyfriend all over again. He's really cute but then he said there was nothing between us because he thinks I'm in love with this other guy. So I kissed and then had sex with his leader. That's a secret, though. And through all of this we're just messing with my older brother and his best friend because, well, I don't really know why—I guess we're just bored. Hey, got any of those cool mints you guys put on your pillows?"_

It would sure be priceless.

"I just got into a fight with my boyfriend." Mady lies instead, staring down at her feet. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to check out and get out." she looks up. "My boyfriend will be staying here tonight, though, so you can just go ahead and charge everything to his name instead of mine. He can pay for everything."

"All of the room service purchases, too?"

"_Everything_."

"Alright." the woman half shrugs, staring at the computer screen. "And what's his name?"

"Randy."

Mady tells her.

"Randy Orton."


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write this and that it's been lacking in quality. Forgive me?

.

John Cena busts into the Quality Inn lobby with Randy Orton and John Morrison hot on his heels. The three of them have rushed there straight from the arena—Morrison didn't have a chance to finish his shower and there's soap suds running down the side of his neck. They're in a triangle kind of line up and their heads are whipping about in every direction to see if there's anyone familiar around.

"Uh." says the elderly woman at the front desk. "Can I help you gentleman with something?"

John moves over to her and slaps a small photograph onto the counter. It's been sitting in his wallet so it's a little torn up. He points to Mady's smiling face with his index finger. "Have you seen this woman, right here?"

The lady scans it, recognition flooding her face, and she nods. "Sure. She was in here not long ago."

John's face lights up at the confirmation. "She was?"

"Yeah." the lady nods. "She was in here in tears, the poor thing. Looked like a mess."

"Was she with anyone?"

"No. Just her."

"Well, did she say anything?"

"Not really. Only that she'd gotten into a fight with her boyfriend."

John frowns. Mady doesn't have a boyfriend. Well not one that he knows of, at least. And Mady wouldn't keep something like that from him. They've always been closer than that.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend."

"Sure she does." the woman argues. "She said his name was Randy Orton."

John's beyond confused now.

"Randy Orton?" he asks. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. She told me to change the name on the bill from hers to his."

John runs his hand over his face, realizing that the captors were screwing with them. They were playing mind games and it was really starting to piss John off. "Orton." he calls his best friend over. "They're gone."

Before Randy has a chance to reply, the woman looks him over. "You're Randy Orton?"

"They left you the bill." John grunts when the woman slides a receipt across to them with a pen.

"You've got to be kidding me." Randy exclaims when he scans the bill and sees the total. "You expect me to pay $200 for a room I've never been in?"

"And an additional $120 for the alcohol and chocolates opened."

Morrison pulls a "_Yikes_" face and takes a step back away from the taller man. Randy Orton mad was not a pretty sight, and that bill was making the vein in his neck stick out like a sword. Randy looked about ready to put his fist through a wall, and Morrison wanted to be nowhere near him if he did.

"They're fucking with us, man." Randy tells John through clenched teeth, pulling out his wallet. "They're one step ahead of us and I'm about ready to kick their asses."

Morrison pulls out his own wallet and slaps down a few bills onto the counter. John does the same. Neither of them want Randy to have to pay it all himself.

"I know, I know." John agrees as the three of them turn to leave the lobby. "But we're going to catch up to them eventually. They're going to fuck up and make a mistake and we'll be right there to catch them when they do."

"We're going to get her back." Morrison tells the two men in front of him, more out of comfort than anything else.

John swallows. He can only hope that his friend is right. He thinks over the voice message the captors left on Randy's cell. Randy's cell. He frowns. "Why Orton?"

Morrison frowns, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What?"

John looks to him and then to Randy, who's giving him the same look Morrison is. "Why Orton? Why not call me?"

Morrison thinks about it. "Hey, yeah. The whole video stream thing happened during _Orton_'s match and Mady's only ever calling out for _Orton_ when she calls."

"Whatever they want—" John starts. "It has nothing to do with me." he slaps Randy on the shoulder. "They've got beef with you."

* * *

It's nothing but silence inside the car as it travels along the highway. Wade's at the wheel with Otunga reading in the seat beside him, and Heath and Mady asleep in the back. Heath's sort of slumped awkwardly against his door, his legs crammed in the small space between his chair and the one in front of him.

There's a suitcase in the middle seat and Mady has her head rested on that, her legs, a lot shorter than Heath's, curled up beneath her.

She looks peaceful, Wade decides when he looks back at her through the rear-view mirror.

Her hairs sort of scattered across her face but it's not bothering her. There's no hurt or uncertainty in her eyes because they're closed. She's lost in her dream state without the weight of reality weighing her down. And he wonders what it is she's dreaming about.

Mady's not exactly dreaming. She's sort of remembering—remembering a happier time, long before things with Justin hit rock bottom.

She's remembering the Justin Gabriel she first fell in love with. She's remembering their very first encounter. And she remembers it as if it's happening right in front of her.

"_Hey, now," he'd whispered, using his thumb to brush the warm, salty tears from her cheek. "You're far too pretty to cry."_

_Mady had looked down to the grass beneath their feet, feeling oddly ashamed for crying in front of him in the first place let alone over something as stupid as crushed feelings. His hand had remained against the side of her face as she'd uttered the words, "Not pretty enough."_

_She had never actually looked at him in detail until that moment when he'd lifted her chin and her eyes had fallen upon his. They were gentle and shiny—and filled with warmth and comfort. It made her melt inside. _

"_You're beautiful." he had told her, his words full of belief. "What could possibly make you think otherwise?"_

_She felt pathetic now, having been crying over some douchebag that didn't care an ounce for her. She'd wriggled out of his touch and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Forget it." _

_But somehow he knew what it had been. And when he'd said "Randy Orton" she'd turned to him with questions in her stare. _

"_I've seen you before, talking to him." Justin had explained, scratching the back of his neck. "I've seen you walk away crying, too. I've wanted to say something to you, I just—well, I'm not exactly in your league, am I."_

_As a rookie, Justin hadn't earned the respect of the locker room and was therefore only spoken to by the other rookies and their pros. But Mady had been watching him for a little while now, admiring his talent and his gentleman-like ways. He was cute, too. _

"_But he's not worth it, you know." _

_Mady had looked up at him after that. _

_Justin smiles the smallest of smiles. "I'd never do this to someone as beautiful as you."_

The dream or vision—whatever you wanted to call it— went blurry after that, eventually fading into nothing but the back of her eyelids.

It didn't matter too much, anyway. That moment was more important than anything that came after it—because that was the moment she'd fallen in love with him. That was the moment she'd trusted him with everything in her.

But he'd made that half-promise to her back then, one that he'd kept for all this time.

Until almost twenty-four hours ago.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's affiliates or it's employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

I had a nap and dreamed this. Barrett is actually growing on me, guys. But don't worry—whatever happens, Justin will always be number one. I think this is kind of cute.

.

Mady quickly sits up, her manicured hand clamping over her mouth in an attempt to stop a gasp from breaking through. She's had a nightmare and her heart is hammering against her rib cage at a hundred miles an hour—she can hear it in her ears. She keeps her hand over her mouth for a few more minutes and she repeats the directions "_Inhale, exhale_." in her mind until her breathing regulates and she doesn't feel like vomiting.

That's when she looks around and notices she's not crammed in the back seat of the car like she had been when she fell asleep. She's now sitting up in a double bed, no one sleeping in the spare space beside her. She wonders where everyone else is,

And it's when she goes to climb off the bed that she realizes Wade's asleep on the floor—she almost stands on his head at first. She makes sure her foot sets down comfortably on the wooden floor beside his arm before she quietly steps over him and tip toes out of the room and onto the balcony.

She grasps onto the railing and closes her eyes, letting her head hang between her shoulders as she blows out another breath of air. The sky above her is beginning to turn a lighter shade of purple and she's sure the sun will be up in the next hour or so.

"Are you alright?"

Mady almost jumps out of her skin when the voice reaches her ears. She spins around and sees Wade leaning against the door frame.

"Sorry." he looks at her with sleepy eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." she tells him. "I just wasn't expecting anyone else to be up."

He nods but doesn't move from the doorway.

Mady leans her lower back against the railing. He's shirtless and she tries to keep her eyes off his chest. "I didn't think that you were awake."

"I wasn't until you almost stepped on my face." she can hear the chuckle in his voice.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." she laughs somewhat awkwardly and scratches her arm. "I didn't know you were down there."

He chuckles again—louder this time, more defined. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I wasn't comfortable enough to sleep well, anyway."

"That might be because you were sleeping on a _wooden_ floor, Barrett. That can't be too good for your back."

"Yeah, you're right about that." he nods, stretching backwards until his back cracked gently under his skin. "I'm going to be sore later."

She laughs softly at him, shaking her head as she wonders why he'd chosen the floor in the first place. But remembering that she'd seen Otunga on one couch and Husky on the other when she'd walked past, there wasn't any place else for him to sleep.

She glances down, feeling guilty that she'd had the double bed to herself. Even if it was Barrett and they weren't on _friendly_ terms, right now. "You could have slept on the bed beside me, you know."

"I know." he nods. "But I didn't want too without asking, and you've been asleep for hours, so I didn't want to wake you up." he scratches the back of his neck. "Besides, Justin wouldn't have liked the idea of me sharing a bed with you."

The mention of the South African makes Mady swallow, and she turns her back to him as she glances over the railing. She hears him move onto the balcony behind her.

"I'm sorry." he apologizes. "I didn't mean to bring him up like that. It's just—you know, after everything that happened between us the other night—you said you didn't want anyone to find out. And having me sleep in bed with you wasn't exactly going to be discreet considering that you hate me—"

"I don't _hate _you, Wade." she sighs, her back still to him. "I just—you're just an asshole sometimes, that's all."

He seems to laugh at this. She turns her head back to look at him, her eyebrow raised high over one of her ocean blue eyes.

"I was under the impression that you hated me." he tells her, leaning on the railing about a foot or so from where she's standing. "Especially after what happened the other night."

"Yeah, well, I don't. I _dislike_ you a lot of the time, but I don't _hate _you." she smiles, turning her attention back to the traffic starting to increase on the streets below. "I'm actually starting to get used to you."

"Oh, really?" he mocks with a smile. "Does this mean you'll actually start being _nice_ to me?"

She turns her head and sees the look he's giving her, making her crack another smile until a small laugh leaves her lips. "You're never nice to me!"

"I'm actually _very_ nice to you, thank you very much." he argues, teasingly. All he wants is to cheer her up a little. She's been looking miserable since her fight with Justin.

She laughs and shakes her head, rolling her eyes at him when he begins to chuckle beside her. She slows her laughing and stares contentedly out into the horizon where the sun is starting to peek up over the side of a building.

"You never told me what your nightmare was about." Wade speaks again a few minutes later.

"You never asked." she turns to him with a small smile before shaking her head. "It was nothing, though." she continues with a small shrug. "Nightmares usually are."

In all honesty, she'd dreamt about Justin again, only it hadn't been as happy or bright as her previous one. It was a lot harsher on her mind, playing on her vulnerabilities and emotions. She didn't remember a lot of it now, thankfully, but she did remember it involving Justin and Orton in some sort of fight to the death—both torn up and bleeding from their limbs.

"It's not healthy to bottle things up, you know."

She knows he's kidding, trying to get her to lighten up a little. "What are you, a doctor?"

"No." he smirks. "Just intelligent and insightful and—"

"Pretentious." she finishes for him.

He mock-glares at her. "Okay, okay, fine." he accepts her reluctance to tell her what she remembers after a minute or so. "But if you want to talk about it later, I promise to stop being _pretentious_ for three seconds."

It earns a small smile from her, and even if it's accompanied by an eye roll, he'll take it. "Stop mocking me."

Barrett puts on his best high-pitched, woman voice and places a hand on his hip, jotting it out to the side a little. "_Stop mocking me_."

Mady pushes herself from the railing and heads towards the glass sliding door. Even though there's an amused smile on her lips, she throws another eye roll over her shoulder at his laughing frame. "Go fall over the railing."

"_Hey_." he straightens, his laughs fading as he watches her walk through the door. He pushes off the railing and follows after her. "That wasn't very nice." he says as he closes the door behind them.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

It's taken me so long to write this, and I'm super duper sorry! I think I'm getting a little bit of writers block, because nothing I write seems to be good enough. But this one is drama-filled. And I hope you like it!

.

Justin stirs when the sun beams slap him in the eyes, tugging the pillow over his face as he rolls over. A soft, annoyed groan leaves his lips as he frowns into the cotton. The brightness has woken him from his dream—one he didn't want to wake up from.

Still half-asleep, his arm reaches out across the mattress in search of another body—_her _body.

He waits for his hand to find her stomach, for it to pull her back into his chest and her hair into his face, just like it had done so many times before. But he doesn't find it. All there is between him and the other end of the bed is more bed sheets and space—_too much_ space.

That's his fault. And he's woken up enough now to remember that.

But with remembering comes the hurt—and he does hurt, knowing that she won't even speak to him. She won't even _look_ at him. He's made a mistake and he's not all too sure at how to fix it.

He's about to hold his breath until he passes out—anything to get him to go back to sleep—and he's just counted past thirty seconds, his head going faint, when he hears laughing from the next room. He doesn't pay too much attention to it, at first.

Not until he recognizes that it's _hers_.

He suddenly lets his breath out, the air rushing from his lips in one big whoosh, leaving his mind spinning for a minute or two. Her laugh, when he hears it a second time, leaves him breathless. It's such a delightful sound—so light and bell-like.

It's shattered when he hears Barrett's voice accompanying it.

"Sounds like Barrett's zeroing in on your girlfriend." Heath mumbles from the bed beside Justin's. He looks as though he's just woken up, his red hair all dishevelled and bent.

Justin bites his tongue. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever, man." the red head returns, sitting as he rubs his eyes. "We all know you want her to be."

Justin doesn't reply to that, and Heath throws on a shirt, gets out of bed and heads for the door, throwing one last glance back at his friend. "And you're an _idiot _for doing nothing about it."

"He's got you there." Skip agrees, having just woken up himself.

"No one asked you, _Skip_." Justin snaps coldly and rolls back over, hardly in the mood for this conversation.

* * *

Justin's in a sour mood for the rest of the day, after that.

But Barrett's come up with the next part of their "plan" with Orton and they've spent most of the day planning it out and kicking it into gear. Justin thinks this part will be more like "torture"—it sure as hell would torture him if he was in Orton's position.

Oh, wait. He was.

"We're almost there." McGillicutty tells the car as he makes a right turn. They're on their way to the arena, knowing the show ended a little over ten minutes ago. Orton would be the last to leave. He always was.

"Alright." Barrett collects their attention, his balaclava covering his head. "No one moves until I give the all clear, you hear me?"

Justin's staring out the window, not paying all too much attention.

Wade's voice has done nothing but annoy him for the past several days and it's getting to the point where Justin just wants to throw him out a window. Not that he would, of course. He'd be nothing without Nexus.

He was already nothing without Mady.

She was sitting across from him, her head down and her eyes on the floor beneath their feet. It killed him to be so close to her, and to have her ignore him all together.

Hell, she was paying more attention to Barrett than anyone else in the vehicle. _That_ bugged him.

The car comes to a stop and the seven of them pile out into the nearly deserted parking garage. They hide behind a couple of crates until they hear a door open and Wade sees Orton walking out with his belongings. He's alone—just like they need him to be.

Mady's pushed into the open space then, and she stands waiting for him to look and notice her. He does and he stops dead in his tracks, his eyes wide and unsure.

* * *

Orton crosses the parking garage in what feels like three steps and engulfs the smaller body in his own. It's tight and frantic and relieved. But it's _her_.

He's too caught up in her embrace to worry about her captors and where they were. He didn't exactly care to be honest. But he starts to release her, doing so as slow as he can, afraid she might vanish into thin air if he's not careful.

He searches her face, still as beautiful and defined as he remembered it to be, for signs of hurt or bruising but, thankfully, there's nothing.

It's when he looks into her ocean blue eyes that he sees a familiar emptiness, a silent hurt behind her runs his thumb across her cheek, his face twisting gently in concern. He does not move when she lifts her hand to the side of his face, her own thumb brushing his skin.

She licks her lips delicately and presses them against his, tasting the saltiness of his skin. And in some kind of confession to herself, she knows that she's been waiting for this for a long time.

And despite it all, he has too.

His tongue, frantic and desperate, clashes against hers, his large hands gripping at the fabric of her shirt. He can't seem to get enough of her, can't seem to touch all he wants to touch and taste all he wants to taste. He wants to pull her into a car and run off with her before anyone has a chance to find them.

But his plan is shattered when something heavy and cold hits him across the back of the head, his body falling limp to the ground at her feet.

He's half-unconscious when he watches the masked men whisk her off around the corner and onto the street. He tries to push himself up, tries to force himself to chase after them.

But, much to his annoyance, he slips unconscious within the next minute. His mind falls into the blackness with her name hanging softly from his lips.

* * *

Justin can't sleep that night. He's out on the balcony trying to get some air when she joins him. At first, she doesn't realize that it's him, or maybe she doesn't realize there's anyone there at all, but when she does there's that silent moment when neither of them know what to do.

"Sorry." she says finally. "I didn't know anyone would be out here this late."

Justin's surprised when he actually finds his voice. "It's fine. I just couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come out here to think for a while."

"What're you thinking about?" she asks before she realizes it. She takes it back, mumbling an apology for asking in the first place.

Justin shakes his head and answers her anyway. This is the first time in a couple of days that they've actually _spoken_ to each other. And he wasn't going to pass it up. "About everything." he shrugs. "Tonight, mostly."

"Tonight?"

"It was hard to see you and Randy like_ that_."

"Oh." she drops her head, nodding. "It was hard for me too." she confesses, looking up at him. "The whole time I was thinking about _you_. Wishing it was _you_, and not him. Which is stupid, right? You know, since you don't want me anymore."

Justin crosses the balcony and catches her face in his hands, before his lips crash down gracefully onto hers. It's reckless and frantic and great. It feels like melting vanilla ice cream on a fresh-baked homemade apple pie. His tongue searches her mouth for its sweet tastes.

And she's unable to decide what she feels when the goosebumps flood her arms. There's a part of her that wants to throw him off, that wants to scream and yell and blame him for what he's put her through. He walked out, not her. And yet, here he was with his sweet kisses and the warmth of his tongue, and she's unsure if she even has the will power to tell him to stop.

Justin's unaware that he's crying until he feels the warm, salty droplets seep between their lips. At first he thinks they're hers, but they're not that sweet. They're warm but they're raw and tasteless. They're his.

He almost breaks down before her, his sobs crashing between them when his forehead leant softly against hers. And through the tears he manages to say "_I want you_" and "_I'm sorry_". It's a lot for her to see, to hear and to feel all in one moment and her emotions start to fall on her like the sea.

And she feels sick to her stomach as she steps back away from him. He searches for the reason but finds nothing in her stare.

"I want you, Mady." he tries when she turns her back on him. "Mady, I made a mistake." he swallows. "I made a mistake and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I can't do this anymore. I can't be away from you like this."

It's a long moment before Mady turns back to face him, tears streaming make up down her cheeks. "I want this too, J." she swallows. "But I made a mistake, too." she stops, having to swallow another sob. "And I can't take mine back."

"Yes, you can." Justin moves forward, taking her hands in his. "You can, Mady. We can move on from this. We can—"

Her next sentence comes out before she knows she's said it.

"I had sex with Wade."


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

You guys are the _greatest_. Like, seriously, I couldn't do this without you!

.

Justin's not sure if he's breathing.

It feels like he's been kicked in the stomach—and he wants to double over and vomit all in the same moment. He doesn't. He stands there in front of her unable to form words. He doesn't believe what he's heard. He doesn't want to believe what he's heard.

But he sees the tears on her cheeks as she stares worriedly at the ground and he knows—he just _knows—_it happened.

He kind of wishes she'd never told him. As messed up and stupid as it sounds—he'd rather go another month without knowing than having to stand here right now and deal with it. How does one even deal with something like this? Justin isn't even sure what he should be_ feeling_.

He's not sure he even feels at all.

He wants to say something to her. There are a thousand questions he could scream in her face—a thousand answers he's not sure he can handle. But the silence surrounding them is difficult and thick and all too quiet.

"You slept with Wade." he repeats, slow and quiet.

And her cheeks get damper, her bottom lip trembling with the weight of her tears. But she nods—so soft, he barely catches it.

"When?" he demands, surprised at how calm he's being.

She can't answer him—or maybe she doesn't want too—either way she just stares at the ground at their feet.

"I asked you a question." he barks at her. It's louder than it was before, and he almost doesn't recognize it. He's not the kind of person to raise his voice at women—no, his mother taught him better than that. "When?"

Mady swallows. She's never been scared of Justin. He's the one who chases off the fear, not the one who creates it.

"Mady." he barks again, this time through his teeth. "_When_?"

She's starting to think there's a side of him she hasn't seen before. Her voice, when she finally does answer, is ragged and quiet. "The night you left me."

Justin laughs harshly at the answer, running a hand through his hair as he turns away from her. He still can't believe he's standing here having this conversation with her. And he can't believe it took her less than twenty-four hours to jump into bed with another man.

And not just any man, Wade _fucking_ Barrett.

"You were everything to me, Mady." he scoffs. "_Everything_. And then you go and do something like this to me, and I—I must have meant so _little_ to you—"

"No." Mady looks up, her eyes still flooded with tears. "No, J. No, it wasn't like that. It wasn't—"

"Then what was it like, Mady?" Justin asks loudly. "_Huh_? Tell me what the fuck you were thinking when you chose him over me. Because that's what you did, right? You chose him over me."

"No, J., you've got it all wrong!" she cries. "Baby, if you just let me explain—"

He shakes his head, looking her up and down. It's disgust that crosses his facial features. "I don't even know who you are."

Their shouting has woken Nexus, and as the hotel room light switches on, the glass door slides open. It's Heath who sticks his head out. "Hey, what's going on out here?"

But when Justin turns his head towards his best friend, his line of sight goes straight past him—Wade Barrett is standing in the middle of the room. Something inside him snaps and he shoves Heath out of the doorway—so rough it sends the red head crashing through a small table inside—and wrestles a surprised Barrett to the ground.

Wade's confused at first, repeating "_Whoa, whoa, whoa_" as he tries to push the South African off. The rest of the Nexus members, once tired and sleepy, are now on full alert.

"What the hell, Gabriel?" he demands when Skip jumps in and drags Justin off by the hem of his shirt.

Justin strains against Skip's arms, reaching out for the Brit as he kicks Skip in the shins. "You slept with her, you son of a bitch!"

Wade looks to the balcony where Mady's standing in the doorway with her hand pressed over her lips and tear marks staining her cheeks. She told him, or he guessed—either way, the secret was out.

Justin flies into Wade, sending the two of them to the floor and the other Nexus members in to stop it. Mady runs over and flings herself at Justin.

"J." she cries, grabbing at his arm to make him stop. "J.—baby, listen to me." when he finally turns to her, she grips onto his arm tighter, afraid to let him go. "I was_ hurting_, J." she tells him. "I was so, _so_ hurt. And I was _furious_. I was so angry at you for leaving me. I, I had too much to drink and Barrett, he, he—Barrett was just _there._" she sobs. "If you had been sleeping there, if, if it had been you, I—it _should_ have been you, J. It should have been you. It was a mistake and I'm so, _so_ sorry."

"What—" Barrett shoves McGillicutty off him, stepping forward. "I meant absolutely _nothing_ to you?"

Mady turns to him, her tiny hands still holding onto Justin. "I _told_ you that." she tells Barrett, her voice rising. "I told you the moment it happened that it meant nothing to me. It was _nothing_."

"_Bullshit!"_ Wade shouts, causing Heath and Otunga to take a few steps forward in front of him. "Bullshit, you—_you_ kissed me on the balcony! _You_ kissed me on the balcony and then _you_ had sex with me. Don't you stand there and pull all this shit around on me. You wanted that just as much as I did."

"Stop it!" Mady screams, breaking away from Justin as she lunges herself at Wade. She starts to jab him in the chest with her finger, her shouts hitting him just as hard as her nail is. "Just _stop_! I wouldn't have touched you—I would never have touched you if you hadn't come out to see if I was okay!"

"Oh, so it's my fault for _caring_?" Wade almost laughs, but he's far too annoyed for that.

"You don't care about shit!" she screams at him. "You don't give a flying fuck about me!"

"I _love_ you!" Wade's shout is loud enough to silence the entire room.

His confession catches her off-guard—it catches them all off guard and leaves them silent on their feet. But Justin's heard enough. He charges across the space and spears Wade to the ground, the thud of their bodies against the wood waking the people in the room below them—that is, if the yelling hadn't already.

"You _son of a bitch_!" Justin's shouts. He's on top of Wade with his hands around the older's neck. As bad as it sounds, he wants to kill the man beneath him. He wants to kill him with his bare hands.

"Gabriel, get off him!" Husky orders, his arms catching the high flyer around the waist. He tries to pull him off, but Justin's got a pretty good grip on Wade.

"Justin, get off!" Heath tries, shoving his best friend at the shoulders.

Justin's hands slip, and Wade's able to scramble to his feet long enough to grab the smaller man by his collar, slamming him into the nearest wall. The drywall crumbles beneath the force, leaving a gaping hole that they sure as hell would have to pay for in the morning.

Wade pulls Justin from the wall and chucks him to the floor, throwing a punch at Skip when the man tries to interfere. The distraction allows Justin to slam his foot into Wade's knee, which he does with such force he swears he hears a bone snap. It sends the Brit to the ground with a wail of pain.

McGillicutty catches Justin around the waist just in time—but that doesn't stop Justin from kicking Barrett square in the face, breaking his nose almost instantly. He kicks McGillicutty in the thigh and charges at Barrett when the man lets him go.

"Cut it out, Gabriel!" Otunga's tugging on his shirt.

The hotel door is suddenly kicked in and three heavy-set, uniformed police officers swarm Justin. It takes the weight of all three of them to take him down and to pin him to the floor.

And he still squirms and yells as they try to get the silver handcuffs over his wrists.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

I'm sorry it took so long to write this and I'm sorry it's short—I'm not sure which direction I should take this story, right now. There are so many options and I'm having trouble deciding. _**If you've got any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated**_! Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy!

.

"J." Mady starts, attempting to rush to his side. She's caught around the waist by one of the officers, however, and is held in place.

Heath's the next to speak, watching as his best friend is hauled to his feet in handcuffs and taken from the room. "What's going on?" he asks carefully, "What's going to happen to him?"

The last thing they need is for Justin to get arrested on assault charges—jail wasn't a very nice place for someone as pretty as him.

For the first time, Nexus becomes aware that there's a woman officer standing among them. She's short and a little chubby, probably why they didn't see her at first, but she looks more than annoyed at the scene and the men around her.

"He's being taken to the station for questioning," she explains, letting her green eyes rest on Heath. "He'll spend the night there and you'll be able to pick him up in the morning."

"Good riddance," Wade grunts from the floor, unable to get up because his knee is sprained or cracked or something. _Stupid Gabriel_, he thinks to himself bitterly.

"Fuck you, Barrett," Mady spits at him.

"You already have," Wade's obviously set on being a smartass at the wrong time.

"Alright, that's enough," the woman orders, waiting until the room falls quiet again before she turns to Wade. "Would you like to press charges, sir?"

Pressing charges would send Justin to jail for sure.

"No," Otunga jumps in before Wade can answer with a "_Yes_," or a "_Send that psycho son of a bitch to jail_".

"It was all just a misunderstanding," Husky agrees.

"A _misunderstanding_?" the woman almost splutters, her eyes looking at the room and all its damages. There was a broken table, a gaping hole in the wall and a man sitting on the floor losing more blood by the second—some misunderstanding.

"Justin's not usually like that." Heath nods. "He wouldn't hurt a fly, really, but, well, things tonight—" his eyes travel to Mady. "—they just got out of hand."

"Alright." the woman is far too tired to deal with this. She runs a hand over her face, "You'll pay the damages to the hotel manager. I suggest you write a very long apology while you're at it. And you can come by to pick up your friend in the morning."

"Thank you," Otunga nods, a relieved breath leaving his lips as he shows her to the door. The red and blue lights of the cop car shine through the window from below momentarily, before disappearing down the street.

The room falls eerily quiet, all eyes on Mady.

She surprises them all when she walks right over to Wade and slaps him square across the face. Blood sprays from his teeth as his head is whipped to the side, and his already broken nose begins to throb painfully—the kind of pain that travels right to your skull.

"I was actually starting to think you were _decent_," she spits at him, letting Skip grab her arm.

"I didn't tell him about us, did I?" Wade grumbles, his fingers catching the sticky, red liquid dripping from his face.

"No," she agrees, swallowing. "But you were the one to make it worse with that stupid lie."

"What lie?" Wade looks up at her as innocently as he can. "The one where I said that I love you? Oh, _sweetheart_, that was no lie."

"Stop," she begs him. "Just, stop."

"One day you'll stop fighting it, Mady" he murmurs, a smirk visible beneath his red-stained lips. "One day you'll stop fighting it, and you'll admit that you love me, too,"

"Over my dead body," Mady spits. She would have kicked him right across the head if Heath hadn't snatched her arm and pulled her backwards.

He lets her go, watching her stumble lightly against the wooden floor, before he speaks. "Cut it out, would you?" he almost yells, "I'm pretty sure you've done _enough_ already."

He doesn't mean to sound so cold, or maybe he does, he's not all too sure what he's feeling—It's turning out to be a long night, or morning. Wait, what time was it? Either way, he's exhausted and furious—not the best two emotions to mix.

Mady catches his tone and scoffs, "I didn't ask Justin to do this, Heath,"

She gets that this is partially—maybe _more_ than partially—her fault. She also gets that Heath is upset because his "harmless" best friend has just been arrested. But she's hurting too.

"No, maybe not, but if you weren't such a cold hearted whore," his tone darkens, "my best friend wouldn't have been arrested."

A cold hearted whore? A _cold hearted whore_? Who the hell did he think he was? "Fuck you, Heath," she screams, her blond locks sprawling out over her shoulders.

He gets an almost amused look on his face, though it's mostly disgust and disappointment. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

His comment makes her lips part in shock, her ocean blue eyes wide and wondering if she heard him right. She's searching for something to say, something to scream at him, but all that's running through her head is, "_Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you_,"

The room is all too silent, something they've all come to appreciate in recent days, but in this moment it feels cold and sharp, and dangerous.

Like something bad could happen—something worse than what had already occurred.

"Okay," Otunga feels brave enough to step forward, his hands raised in surrender between Heath and Mady. "Let's just all calm down now, yeah?"

No one answers him.

"Skip," he continues, seeing the horrific death glare on Mady's lips—she's about ready to tear Heath's head right off his shoulders. Otunga knows she's probably capable of it, right now. "Maybe you should take Mady into the other room."

Skip goes to grab her arm but she shoves him off and heads for the hotel room door.

"No," Heath stops Skip when he goes to walk after her. He raises his voice so that Mady will hear him even if she's in the hall, "Let her go. Let's hope she never comes back!"

And as she breaks down in the elevator, the warm tears flooding her usually perfect features, Mady comes to the sudden realization that—she has absolutely _no where _to go.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

.

It's a lot colder than it had been an hour ago—she would know because she's been sitting outside since then, her petite body shivering under the lack of clothing. She'd left her coat in the hotel room and there was no way in hell that she was going back there to get it.

_This is your fault_, she tells herself.

And she repeats it over and over again—even when it begins to snow, the little white flakes falling lazily down around her. The temperature begins to drop steadily, the goosebumps on her skin and the trembles in her bones doubling and then tripling in force.

She knows nothing good can come from sitting outside this late at night—or this early in the morning, considering she had no idea what time it was—in the snow, nonetheless, but she hasn't exactly got a choice. She has nowhere to go—nowhere warm, at least.

And so she sits on the park bench with her knees to her chest and tries her best to pull her mind from the cold. She thinks about what would have happened if she hadn't let the truth out—but there's no point, because she did let the truth out, and it ruined everything.

She doesn't even remember what led her to break up with Justin in the first place. None of this would have happened if they had stayed together. Nexus wouldn't have kidnapped her, she wouldn't have joined, and things would be as perfect as possible.

_And Justin would still love you_, she taunts herself harshly.

But she doesn't remember why she did it. How can someone regret doing something when they forgot the reason why they did it in the first place? Didn't that kind of defeat the purpose? It all didn't make sense to her. But thinking about it just made it all seem so much worse.

So, with her last tears, she laid herself down onto the green park bench, pulling her knees to her chest for warmth from the snow, and closed her eyes.

_Sleep_, she begs herself, _sleep and never wake up_.

* * *

"Something's wrong." John mumbles, pacing the locker room with his dog tags sitting between his fingers. It's almost lunch time, but food is the last thing on his mind.

"What are you talking about?" Morrison questions, lacing his boot in the corner. He looks up briefly, catching his friend pacing, and frowns. "We haven't heard anything from Mady yet."

"Exactly," John points out. "It's been at least forty eight hours since we last heard something. I'm telling you, man—something's wrong."

"You don't know that." Morrison tries. "And for Christ's sake, would you sit down? You're making me nervous."

"I can feel it, Morrison." John does what is asked and takes a seat, running his hand roughly over his face, though his knees don't stop from bopping softly. "Something happened. Mady's in trouble."

"What do you mean you can _feel _it?"

"I don't know. I can just feel it. Like—in the pit of my stomach."

Morrison thinks for a moment, pulling his boot laces tight. "Maybe it's gas."

Cena reaches over and clobbers his friend over the back of the head. "It's not gas, you fool. It's—oh, forget it, never mind."

The two drop the conversation momentarily, or until Randy Orton walks through the door looking worse for wear. He hauls his suitcase in and drops his coat on top of it, turning to his two friends with a nod.

"Dude, where have you been?" Morrison asks. "I've been trying to call you."

"Something came up."

"Something came up?" John frowns. "You stayed late at the arena—what could have possibly come up?"

_Ah, screw it_, Randy thinks. "I saw Mady."

John's on his feet the second the name leaves his friend's lips. "What do you mean, _you saw Mady_?"

"As I was leaving the arena last night, I looked up and she was just _there_, she was just standing there—like she had been waiting for me."

"Well," Morrison cuts in. "What happened?"

"I don't know. One minute I was hugging her, I had her right in my arms, and then," he sighs, rubbing the back of his head, which is home to a sore lump. "I get hit over the back of the head and someone's taking her away again. I tried to get up, man. I tried to go after her."

"I know you did." Cena nods, dropping back down into his seat with a soft thump.

* * *

When Mady's eyes flutter open, it's a plush, white pillow she's greeted with. It's soft and warm under her cheek. With a small frown, her fingertips brush against the mattress she's on top of, finding an assortment of sheets and covers draped over her small frame for warmth.

She pulls herself up into a seated position, the covers dropping to her lap, exposing her skin to the cold afternoon air. Where is she? That's a question that seemingly fails an answer.

She half expects to see the members of Nexus scattered around the room in their own sleepy states, half expects them to have come to find her during the early hours of the morning after the argument, but another look around the room tells her that she's not in a hotel room at all.

It appears to be a bedroom of some sort—as in a bedroom of a house.

Frowning even deeper, she forces her mind to wander back to the last memory she has of the night before. But all that floods her skull is the reminder that she fell asleep crying hopelessly on a park bench in the snow. Whatever happened after that was a blank to her.

"Oh, you're up."

The voice, unfamiliar and piercing the silence like a gunshot, snaps her head to the side towards the door. There's a short, elderly woman standing in the doorframe with a warm smile on her lipstick painted lips.

"I thought you'd sleep the day away."

Mady swallows and shifts under the covers uncomfortably at the sight of the stranger. "Where—"

"It's okay, dear." the woman enters the bedroom without invitation. Not that she really needs one; it is her house after all. "You're alright."

You're alright—doubtful. Mady tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, I—I don't exactly know where I am or how I got here."

"I'd imagine—you were in pretty bad shape when I found you in the park this morning." the woman looks sad at the memory as she sits on the edge of the bed. "You were almost freezing to death out there."

"So you brought me here?" Mady looks around. "Wherever here is."

"Yes." the woman nods. "You're in my house. In my spare bedroom actually. My grandson stays in here when he visits, but, not to worry, these are clean sheets."

Mady tries a smile, but ends up pushing the covers off her lap, letting them fall carelessly onto the mattress in a dishevelled heap. "Thank you, for this. But I—I should go."

The woman doesn't move to stop her. She only looks up with wrinkly eyes and looks to the younger woman questioningly, "Do you have anywhere _to go_, dear?"

"No." Mady confesses, climbing off the bed. "But I'm sure I'll figure something out."

"Well, you know, you're more than welcome to stay." the woman tries calmly. "At least until you can find somewhere else."

Mady rakes her hand through her hair, looking to the woman as she licks her lips uncertainly. "Do you make a habit of picking up people on park benches? I mean, I could be a murderer or something."

The old woman laughs softly, a laugh that has seen its years. "I don't think murderers confess to being murderers. Besides, you don't look like one to me—you look, well, _lost._"

Mady blows a little air out of her nose, a sort of laugh and sigh combination. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Stay." the woman smiles. "It's raining outside and they expect it to snow again tonight. I wouldn't be comfortable with sending you out in these weather conditions with what little clothing you have."

Mady glances down at herself, noticing the amount of bare skin she can see, and then eyes the older suspiciously. "_You're_ not a murderer are you?"

This earns another laugh from the woman, who shakes her head softly allowing her grey hair to move against her shoulders. "No, dear. I'm no murderer."

Her mother taught her about stranger danger, taught her to never go with someone no matter who they claimed to be—but Mady was twenty three, almost twenty four years old. She could hold herself in a fight and it wasn't like this little old lady looked murderous. And besides, right now she didn't have any other option.

"Okay." Mady sighs after a brief moment. "Okay, fine. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to stay. You know, just until I find my feet again."

The woman slowly gets to her feet, clasping her aging hands together comfortably. "It's no trouble at all, dear. You can stay as long as you like."


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

Woo, two chapters in two days—I'm back to frequent posting, you guys! "_Finally_," you're all thinking. But thank you, to all of you who support me. I owe you a lot more chapters for your patience! And, good news, I have at least three more chapters mapped out, so you should be seeing them soon!

Also, there's a twist coming... I wonder if you'll pick up on the hints.

.

"Gabriel," the guard calls out, unlocking the cell doors with his keys, "Your bail's been posted. You're free to go,"

Justin gets to his feet and crosses the cell, earning a grunt from the two men he's been sharing it with, and lets the guard close and lock the cell door again behind him. The guard's been nice enough to him since he got in, unlike the two officers who hauled him into the building, but Justin won't be coming back here to visit him.

This place gives him the creeps.

He passes the other three cells, eyeing the men who are sitting in them. They look more like criminals than he does, with their scruffy faces and dark stares, and their sneers. But Justin pays it no attention—he's almost out of there.

"Where is everyone?" Justin asks as he walks into the waiting room and sees that it's only Otunga and Husky who are waiting for him.

"Uh, well, Barrett's been at the doctor's for about forty minutes. McGillicutty's with him. And Heath and Skip are packing our things up," Husky explains with a nod.

Justin isn't interested in that. He's interested in the failed mention of a certain blond woman who has been occupying his thoughts since the night before, "And where's Mady?"

Otunga, who's been signing Justin's bail papers, returns to the duo by sharing a sceptical glance with Harris. Justin catches it and frowns, "What?" he asks.

"Heath, well, he kind of kicked her out," Harris eventually explains, scratching the side of his neck uncomfortably.

Justin frowns at his teammate, his eyebrows gently pulling together at the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean he kicked her out?"

"Well, after you were hauled off, Heath got a little worked up about it all," Otunga explains calmly, "He said some not-so-nice things, called her a few names and she just walked—"

"And none of you thought to stop her?" Justin inquires, eyeing his teammates.

He can't believe after all that's happened, after all the plans and initial rush of having stolen her, he can't believe that they could have just let her walk right out the door. Weren't they the least bit worried that she'd be found by someone they know, someone who would demand to know how she could have possibly freed herself from her captors?

"Skip tried, man," Husky offers, his shoulders rising and falling slightly. "He tried to go after her, but Heath told him not to."

"It's not necessarily Heath's fault, though, Justin." Otunga tries, seeing the frown deepen across the South African's face at his best friend's reluctance to stop the woman, "He was tired and angry, and he said some things he didn't necessarily mean at the time."

"He's calmed down a bit since then," Husky adds. "Barrett, on the other hand, is still bitching and whining," he almost rolls his eyes, but thinks against something so childish, "which is to be expected, I guess, considering you broke his nose and screwed his knee."

"Can he walk?" Justin asks, sounding less than interested.

"Yeah," Husky nods. "But barely. He has this weird limp-hop thing going on."

"I obviously didn't kick him hard enough then," the high flier grumbles, rubbing a hand over his tired face.

"Look, man," Otunga sighs, "I get why you kicked him, I do, I mean I probably would have done the same thing if it had been me," he sighs again, "But can you, you know, put this shit behind you for a bit. Barrett's bitching is about all we can handle, right now."

"And it's a long drive to Florida," Husky agrees, "We don't want to make it any longer than it already is,"

"You're kidding, right?" Justin looks stunned. "I'm not leaving Chicago until I find Mady."

"Gabriel, she's gone." Otunga pinches the bridge of his nose, "We've searched the city over for her and found nothing."

"She probably walked to a main road and hitched a ride,"

"Exactly; she could be half way across the next state by now," Otunga agrees with the bigger man, "Staying in Chicago is pointless if she's gone,"

"We don't know that she's gone," Justin argues.

"We don't know that she's here either," Husky counters. He doesn't want to stay in Chicago any longer than he has too. It's cold and snowy, and they've just forked out more than a thousand dollars in damages for the hotel room they trashed. Florida looked like heaven from where he was standing.

"How do I know you searched for her?" Justin stares at the man with dark, tired eyes. "You don't give a shit about her. You let her walk right out into the cold while you all went back to bed."

"Look, we know we should have gone after her," Otunga sighs, "But between Barrett bleeding a river on the floor and us trying to clean up the mess, that was kind of the least of our worries."

"Yeah, I figured," Justin spits, "Because leaving a woman out in the snow, with no money or warm clothes, isn't important at all, right?"

"You know we didn't mean it like that—"

"No, Otunga, it's exactly what you meant." Justin shakes his head. "You think that because Mady has caused all these problems, she deserves to freeze to death, that it would be easier if she wasn't around."

"Justin—"

"I don't get why you're so annoyed at us, right now," Husky frowns, "Just last night you wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. What changed?"

"I spent the night in jail, Harris, that's what." Justin snaps, "And when you're in here there's nothing to do but sit and think. And, believe me, I've been up thinking all night, going over everything that happened."

"And, what—she's off the hook for what she did?" Husky doesn't mean for it to sound so sarcastic, but the nature of the question makes it sound that way. "She had sex with Barrett."

"Yes," Justin nods, "But she didn't lie about it. She could have. She could have gotten back with me and never told me at all,"

Otunga's never thought about it that way. But now that Justin is bringing her honesty forward, he has to give the blond woman some credit. Not a lot of women are brave enough to admit their infidelity like she did.

"But she was honest," Justin continues, his voice softening slightly, "That's one of the things I fell in love with her for in the first place." he confessed, "And I realized that her telling me, her owning up to it now, was better than her hiding it from me and basing our relationship on lies."

"So, you've forgiven her?" Otunga wonders lightly.

"Somewhat," Justin nods, swallowing. "I'm still hurt, and I suppose I have every right to be, but this night has given me some sort of understanding,"

"I guess that's the first step," Husky says, feeling guilty for being so awful to Mady; despite what she may have done. Everyone makes mistakes. And he's actually kind of worried about her now, fearing that she's frozen underneath all the snow outside.

Because it's fallen silent, and the three of them are still standing in the police station waiting room, Otunga speaks, "Well, come on, then,"

Justin looks up, a small frown on his face, thinking his speech has gone right over Otunga's head.

"We'll start with the cheap motels and work our way up to the hotels in the city," Otunga continues with a small smile as he dangles the car keys from his fingers.

Husky nods in agreement and clasps his hands together as they begin to leave the building, "She has no money, but it's worth a shot. We should check the parks and shops afterwards; maybe someone will remember seeing her."

A smile lights up Justin's face as he follows the two men out into the chilly Chicago breeze—and Otunga's actually kind of glad to see it.

* * *

"Would you like something to eat?"

Mady looks up from the table, seeing that her elderly companion is standing with the refrigerator open. She's been awake for only twenty minutes, but, Margaret—she'd finally learnt her name—had lent her a pair of tracksuit pants and a warm cardigan while her day-old, snow-soaked clothes were being washed.

"No, thank you," Mady decides. She's in no mood to eat, despite the sinking feeling in her stomach, and the soft gurgling sounds it was making.

It was past lunch, almost two in the afternoon—Nexus would have already picked up Justin from the station by now. She wondered whether he still hated her, maybe he was high fiving Heath for kicking her out, but the thought only turned the sinking feeling into a nauseas one.

"Are you sure?" Margaret asks—and just like any old lady would do, she decides to make something anyway—"Just in case you change your mind."

Mady nods and gives the woman a small smile, before her mind drifts back off to Justin and whether Nexus will even bother to look for her (_Probably not)_. The best thing for them to do would be to continue on to the next state, wrestle, and pretend to be oblivious to her whereabouts.

"Lost in the clouds?" Margaret's voice is soft and amused, her old, emerald eyes sitting on the younger.

"Yeah," Mady confesses with a small embarrassed chuckle.

The older nods understandably, smiling. "Thinking about anything in particular?"

Mady shrugs. "Not really," she says eventually, before adding, "Just _people_, I guess."

"Anyone you want to call?" Margaret stirs her tea, and tries not to sound nosey (it's a habit of hers she hasn't quite mastered). "The phone is there if you need it,"

"Oh, no, no, it's okay," Mady shakes her head, waving her hand dismissively. She wouldn't know what to say even if she did decide to call someone.

"Surely someone is waiting to hear from you, dear?"

"Yeah," it came out in a whisper, her eyes dropping to the table's surface where her hands were sitting, entwined together. "But, right now, it's better if no one knows where I am—

it's better if I remain gone."


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

Congratulations to _alyssaanne_ for picking up on the hints I left in the last chapter! And here's Chapter 28, you guys!

.

"No luck?" Otunga asks carefully, watching as Justin slams the phone down with a huff. They've been calling every motel, hotel and rentable place in Chicago for the past hour in hopes that someone, somewhere can tell them where Mady is.

But, so far, they're getting nothing but "who is Mady?"

"She's not there," Justin confirms, pinching his nose and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Who's not there?" Heath's suddenly walking through the doorway, his red hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep the strands out of his face.

Barrett, McGillicutty and Skip walk in after him—well, in Wade's case, hobble. "Where are your bags?" he demands, upon seeing that the three other team mates haven't even gotten around to packing. "We're leaving in five minutes,"

"I'm not going anywhere," Justin doesn't look up, but Heath can tell by the accent that it was him to speak.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Heath frowns. Asking the question, Wade was about to ask.

"Harris, Justin and I are going to stay here to look for Mady," Otunga explains, his eyes falling on Wade.

Heath frowns even deeper, "Why would you bother looking for—"

"I swear to God, Heath, if you finish that sentence I will kick you so hard you'll be in worse shape than Barrett," Justin threatens, his teeth clenched together tightly.

"Hey, fuck you, Gabriel," Barrett scoffs and hobbles forward a few steps before he's stopped by McGillicutty, who snatches the sleeve of his shirt and shakes his head.

Justin glances at him but seems to ignore the English man, nonetheless. It's a funny sight; Barrett being supported by McGillicutty, his nose swollen, tinged red and completely covered in a deep purple bruise.

Heath looks stunned at his best friend's words, not expecting the man to be so annoyed at him. "Justin, I—I didn't know you wanted her to stay, man. After what happened I just thought—"

"You thought what, Heath?" Justin asks, turning to the man. "You thought driving her out of the group would fix everything?"

"No," Heath shakes his head, "No, of course not. I was just—I was angry, you know?"

Justin almost laughs. "_You_ were angry? _You_ were—oh, I'm sorry, Heath," his voice leaks sarcasm, "I didn't realize how angry _you _were about _my girlfriend_ sleeping with another man."

Heath shrinks back a little, understanding the point Justin is trying to make, despite how sarcastic it might be. "Alright, man, I get it. I'm sorry, okay?"

He sighs, looking a little more remorseful than he had been earlier. And when Justin doesn't look at him, he sighs again, "I was just trying to look out for you, you know? I mean, you're—you're my best friend."

Justin sighs as he rakes his hand roughly over his face.

"You're my best friend, man." Heath repeats a little quieter, hoping for the life of him that he hasn't gone and thrown his closest friendship out the window in last night's moment of anger.

Justin finally turns his head to the side, the fire in his eyes deflating somewhat inside his orbs. "I know that you were angry," he starts calmly, "We all were. But, as angry as we were, as much as we blamed her for everything, letting Mady just walk right out of here wasn't the smartest thing we could have done. And so, right now, we need to find her. We need to bring her back. Not because of the trouble we'll be in if we don't, but because we need to make sure that she's alright."

Heath nods at his friend's words.

"If you don't want to help, then that's fine. Go pack your things and leave for Florida when Barrett does. But I'm not leaving Chicago until I find her."

"Fine," Barrett snaps at Justin, "Like I care if your psycho ass comes with us or not. But Otunga and Harris are coming with me," he looks to Otunga when the man stands to protest, "And that's an order."

"Fine, take them," Justin grumbles, his eyes dark on the English man. "You've already taken everything else,"

Wade snorts, a smug smirk playing on his lips. "And it was easy. I didn't even have to lift a finger. I mean, she just crawled right into my bed, stuck her sweet tongue down my throat and ran those soft hands of hers all over." Wade shoved the knife in further, "And those moans she makes," he whistles low in appreciation.

Justin lunges forward, having heard enough. He's caught by the shirt by Husky, and Wade lets out a long, amused laugh. "Struck a nerve, did I, Gabriel?"

"That's enough," Otunga really is sick of all this arguing. And he's at the point where he feels like punching Wade in the face if Justin can't get there first. "I'm going to help Justin find her. And, if we haven't heard anything by tomorrow night, we'll move on to Florida."

Wade shrugs. "Fine, whatever. The rest of you, let's go." He walks to the door with Heath, Skip, Husky and McGillicutty. He turns before he leaves, with a smirk on his face, "Oh, and Gabriel—if you find her, tell her I'm waiting for her, would you,"

Justin steps forward again, but Otunga grabs him by the shoulder. Wade laughs and leaves, the door closing behind him with a soft bump. As soon as he's gone, Justin kicks the little table over. "I fucking _hate_ him."

* * *

"See you in Florida, Punk," Cena nods as he passes the Straight Edge superstar in the arena hallway.

"Oh, didn't you hear, I'm taking the next week off," Punk replies, as the yellow-and-purple shirted superstar halts and turns to his co-worker.

The two were friends of sorts, enough to get along and respect each other as competitors. But they weren't as close as some of the others—the ones who stayed at each others houses and went to lunch every other day of the week. They had a beer or two at the bar every now and then, but their closeness was limited to that.

"Oh, really? Yeah, no one told us," Cena shakes his head. Sometimes the tech men could be so forgetful or lazy when it came to relaying messages, "Staying at home for a few days rest, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that," Punk nods. "It sounds so wussy, but I'm going to spend some time with my Grandma."

"I told you before, Phil," Melina shakes her head as she passes with the Bella Twins, "Women love a man who loves his Grandma,"

"Definitely," Brie nods, with her sister Nikki adding a, "It's cute,"

Cena chuckles and bids the women a safe trip as they continue on their way to the parking garage with their luggage. Punk rolls his eyes, but tells them he'll see them in a week.

"Well," Cena re-grabs his suitcase handle, his usual smile not quite reaching his eyes like it used too. It hasn't since his little sister went missing. "Say hello to your Grandma for me,"

Punk chuckles and rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, rub it in, Cena, but my Grandma is cool."

"Please don't tell me she has a Pepsi tattoo like you,"

Punk laughs at that. "No. No tattoos."

"Alright then, man, take it easy," Cena smiles and nods and starts to walk away with his things.

"See you in a week," Punk agrees, heading in the opposite direction to his locker room. He hasn't quite finished packing up his things yet, and his Grandma is expecting him before supper time.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

It's been a hell of a week. I'm sorry it took so long to write this—I actually had it written and saved but I didn't have the time to post it—and I want to thank those of you who came to me about another author using parts of this story claiming it to be their own. They've apologized to me and hopefully that story will be taken down.

Thank you for supporting me, guys. Much love!

.

Her reflection looked oddly bleak through the bathroom mirror. And the more she chose to stand there and stare, the more it blurred. It shook and distorted when tears formed behind her lids but it remained as unfamiliar as it had been for days.

As funny as it sounded, it was almost like she had aged considerably since the day she went "missing". She used to be so adolescent, so childish in her appearance with her tiny dimples and Cena-like smile.

"_You're just like me, kid_." John used to say.

But now, standing before her reflection, it was as though she barely recognized the adult staring back at her. The dimples that had once made her look much younger than she was had matured nicely. And her smile, so much like her brother's, was now her own.

She was as beautiful as ever because she was finally her own person. But it had come at a price, and a big one at that.

Her lungs began to ache, snapping her attention from the misty mirror, screaming for her to take the breath she forgot she was holding. She hung her head low for a moment, collecting her thoughts, before she dressed herself.

Moving out into the kitchen, she found Margaret setting the table for three. The elderly woman looked up and smiled at the younger, her eyes shining in anticipation of her grandson's arrival. It had been a little while since she'd seen the man.

"Does your grandson visit often?" Mady asks, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Occasionally," Margaret smiled, popping to the other side as the pot of tea on the stove cried out. "He's a very busy man, travelling the world, but he always makes time for his Grams."

Mady knew what that was like, to be away from home so much that your family hardly sees your face or mentions your name. She had been meaning to go back home to Massachusetts for a while, you know, before the whole "kidnapping" ordeal happened. Her parents had no idea that she was even "missing".

"What does he do for work?" she wondered. There weren't too many careers that sent you across the world on a weekly basis, not that she could name anyway.

"Oh, he's a—" before Margaret had the chance to get the answer through her lips, the front door creaked open and there were footsteps in the hall. "Oh, he's here!"

Margaret rushed off down the hall as fast as her slippers would take her, disappearing from sight in a rush of excitement. And as she finished setting the table, Mady heard the elderly woman fussing over him like only a grandmother could.

The two entered the kitchen as Mady was walking a couple of tall glasses to the table. She turned her head, wanting to make a nice first impression with a smile, but stopped dead in her tracks instead, the glasses clinking and sliding from her hands. One by one they shattered to pieces along the kitchen floor.

"Oh," Margaret jumped in shock at the noise, holding an aging hand to her chest.

It was Phil Brooks—CM _freaking_ Punk—and he was burning holes right through her with his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," Mady managed to croak, dropping to her knees to collect the shards from the ground with her hands. _Dammit, Dammit, Dammit_, she thought hopelessly, wanting to be anywhere else but there.

"Not to worry dear," Margaret was all too oblivious to it all. "Phillip, help Mady clean up the bigger pieces. I'll go and grab the broom from the laundry."

Mady chewed on her lip and kept her face angled away from his when he knelt before her. Of all the grandmothers in Chicago, she just had to be staying with the grandmother of someone she knew. It was almost enough to make her laugh.

"You're not even going to say hi?"

She peered up at him through her hair, seeing the unamused and dazed look on his face. "_Hi_."

"I found it," Margaret breezed back into the room with the broom, a cheeky smirk on her aging lips. "It was tucked behind all those boxes you said you'd get rid of, Phillip."

"Yeah," Punk tore his eyes from the blond long enough to get to his feet. "Yeah, sorry about that, Grams. I'll clear them out tomorrow."

Mady remained on the floor, several shards of glass sitting in the palm of her hand. It was when he spoke that the chills went down her spine and she accidently cut herself, wincing as she dropped the shards back to where she'd found them. "Ow."

Two pairs of eyes travelled to her at the sound, seeing the red liquid dripping slowly from her fingertips.

"Oh, dear," Margaret dropped the broom and hurried to soak a small hand towel in water. She returned and wrapped it tightly around Mady's hand, ignoring the younger's comments that she was fine.

"I'll clean this up, dear," Margaret continued, silencing her, "You go and wash your hand. There's alcohol-based disinfectant in the bottom cupboard in the bathroom and bandages in the—oh, Phillip, do that for her, would you, dear."

"Sure, Grams," Punk agreed, nodding for Mady to walk herself down the hall. There was _a lot _they were going to talk about once they were in the safety of the other room, and he would make sure she said it all.

And she knew this was it, she knew the moment that bathroom door closed behind them he would be hounding her with questions. And she hadn't prepared the answers to them. So, she was going to have to go in there and wing it.

"I don't want to talk about it, Punk, so don't ask." she tells him as soon as they enter the bathroom. She goes straight for the cupboard, rummaging through it for the disinfectant, as she listens to him grabbing the bandages from their spot above the sink.

"You don't want to talk about it? You don't want to—" he's dumbfounded, "—Mady, _where the hell_ have you been?"

She ignores his question, standing over the sink with the disinfectant bottle in her uninjured hand. She bites down hard on her tongue, enough to taste blood, and tips the clear liquid over her bloody hand, refraining from crying out as the stinging takes her to the verge of tears.

"Here, let me do it," Punk appears at her side and takes the bottle, not hesitating to pour more of the torture liquid onto her wound, despite her trying to pull her arm away. This time it makes her yelp and stumble backwards.

"That hurts, asshole!" she spits, cradling her hand to her chest despite the fact that it's still bleeding somewhat heavily.

"Oh, really, I had no idea," comes his sarcastic reply as he reaches over and grabs her arm, heaving her forward forcibly.

"Hey," she protests, trying to free herself from his grip. His tight hold on her wrist was starting to hurt the slice along her palm.

He ignores her as she wriggles, tearing the bandage packet with his teeth. "Mind telling me what you're doing in my grandmother's house?" he asks, beginning to wrap the white fabric around her wound. "You know, since you're supposed to be missing and all that."

Mady doesn't reply, and yelps when he squeezes her wound a little too tightly.

"I wouldn't have to do it if you answered my questions," Punk replies with a shrug.

Mady glares at him, "This is blackmail."

"Yeah, I know," he shrugs again, unaffected. "So is me calling John,"

"You wouldn't."

He lets his eyes fall on hers as his eyebrow rises in amusement. "Want to bet?"

Mady swallows, not exactly willing to take that chance. She winces and huffs out a breath when he squeezes her injured hand for the second time.

"Start talking, Cena."


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer**: I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, its affiliates or its employees. I don't own Justin Gabriel either, which is kind of sad.

**Author's Note**: As always, thank you so much to those who review and to those who favourite and whatnot. I love you, all. You keep me going!

Chapter 30, guys. Can you believe we made it this far? Much love!

.

"Look, you'd better start talking, kid." Punk threatened when the young woman failed to make a sound. Mady winced again as his fingers clumsily attempted to wrap and pin the bandage together around her wound.

Finally done, he releases her wrist, letting her newly-bandaged hand fall down onto her lap. She studies it, and stares up at him. "You're an asshole, did you know that?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Look, on top of the fact that I _don't _want to tell you this," Mady grumbles, lowering herself onto the side of the bathtub. "I have _no idea_ how to even start explaining."

"I don't care _how_ you explain it," he replies, crossing his tattooed arms over his chest. "But, one way or another, you're going to tell me _everything_. Or I'll haul your ass to the police station and you can explain it to them—"

"Alright," Mady cuts in quickly; she _did not_ want the police involved. "Alright, I'll tell you. But this conversation remains confidential."

Punk shook his head at her, "Can't promise that."

"Then forget it." Mady snorts, pushing herself from the bathtub in the process of heading for the door.

If he was just going to go and spread the word about her whereabouts regardless of what she told him, then there was no need for him to know all the details. She really didn't need those to get out.

"Hold on," he snatches her injured hand—unintentionally—but fails to let go even when she takes a sharp intake of breath. "If I promise not to repeat what I hear, you'll tell me everything?"

Swallowing hard as his grip continues to put pressure on her wound, Mady nods quickly.

"You'll leave nothing out, and it'll be the truth?"

_Oh for heaven's sake_. She was about to smack him across the head just to get him to let go. "Yes," she croaks out harshly, "Yes, I'll tell the truth—just let go of me."

He releases her hand, letting her let out the breath she'd been holding as she leans against the sink for support. The wound has been re-opened—the blood soaking the once fresh, white bandage. She bites her tongue as the pain returns, watching as Punk collects another bandage packet and gestures for her to sit back on the side of the tub.

"It was The Nexus," she confesses eventually, hating the fact that she was about to relay the whole story to him from start to finish.

"The Nexus?" he repeats with a raise of his eyebrow. "As in, Wade Barrett and The Nexus?"

"No, _Barney and Friends_," she rolls her eyes sarcastically. "Yes, Wade Barrett and The Nexus—what other Nexus do you know?"

"Watch the attitude, kid." Punk warns, pulling the bandages tight enough to make her yelp. He didn't necessarily like the fact that she was wounded, but the power he currently held over her was kind of nice.

Recovered from the stab of pain, Mady took his hard stare as reason to continue. "As I was saying," she swallowed through gritted teeth. "The Nexus were behind the kidnapping. If you can even call it that—they were pretty hopeless at it. But, long story short, I went from being a hostage to being their friend. And—"

"Hold up," Punk cut in.

"It's hard to explain," Mady groans before he could ask her about it. "I was annoyed at Orton and, well, teaming with Nexus to mess with him didn't seem so bad at the time."

"You're telling me that you're the mastermind behind Orton's insanity?"

Mady thinks about it for a moment. "You could say that."

"And you were completely unharmed through the whole ordeal?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Punk lets out a low whistle. "That's some acting chops you've got there, kid."

She could tell, by the tone of his voice, that he wasn't praising her. In fact, he sounded pretty disappointed. But she had her reasons for what she did.

"Did you ever stop to think about what this was doing to your brother?"

"Not really," she replies honestly. "I guess I tried to tune that guilt out. I had enough of it to deal with as it was, and I couldn't have any more of it interfering with the plans."

"I still can't believe you planned this whole thing—"

"Hey, I _did not_ plan on getting kidnapped or being handcuffed to a hotel bed or being forced to walk around in men's clothing for a week and a half," she countered. "I did not plan the _whole_ thing—I planned the second half of it."

"And that's supposed to make what you did better?"

"No," she shakes her head. "But look, the way I see it, Orton deserved what he got. And I'm sure we would have driven him to an insane asylum had things not gone the way they did."

Punk, finished with the re-wrapping of her wounded hand, lets it fall down onto her lap and crosses his arms back over his chest with an eyebrow raised. "And what way was that?"

She looks up at him like he was stupid. "Uh, the one that has me sitting on a bathtub in your grandmother's house."

"I'm getting real sick of your attitude," Punk warns her. "I'm just trying to piece this fucked up puzzle together. So cut the crap and tell me what I need to know."

"In my opinion, you don't need to know any of this. But I don't have a choice due to the fact that you're _blackmailing_ me."

"Oh, boo-hoo," he rolls his eyes. "Just tell me how you got here."

"I don't know how I got here. I fell asleep on a park bench and I woke up in—"

"I meant what led you to this point," he grumbles, deciding that this was a lot more difficult than he'd imagined it'd be.

"Then why didn't you ask it like that?" she inquires, equally as annoyed.

"Just tell the damn story."

"I had sex with Barrett, okay?" Mady announced, wanting to get this over and done with as quick as possible. "I had sex with Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel was arrested and Heath Slater kicked me out. Are you happy?"

"Well, I'm more confused than happy," he replies sarcastically. "What the hell did you have sex with Wade Barrett for?"

"Oh, I don't know, Punk. He seemed like a genuine, good guy and I fell head over heels in love with him." she snorts. "What do you think happened—I was drunk."

"And Gabriel was arrested because you had sex with Barrett?"

"He was arrested because he lost his shit and tried to decapitate Barrett with his foot."

"Wow," Punk nods after a moment of silence. "Didn't know the kid had it in him."

"That's what you took from that?" Mady screamed, looking at him in disbelief.

"No," Punk told her. "I gathered that you were a little bit of a whore, too."

Well, she walked right into that one.

"Is that all?" she sucked her teeth and stared at him.

"Nah, I have a few other names up my sleeve, but I doubt you'll want to hear them."

Mady swallows and narrows her eyes. "I meant—are we done?"

Punk shrugged. "You tell me. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Like, did you sleep with Otunga too, or maybe Sheffield got a piece of you—"

Mady stood and slapped him. Square across the mouth. Margaret probably heard the impact from the kitchen since bounced off the bathroom walls. She stood there with her chest heaving and her eyes narrowed in his direction, "You're an asshole."

He laughs, stretching his jaw where she'd hit him. "So you keep saying."

"I told you everything," she reminds him. "I kept my part of the deal, so now you keep yours."

He chuckles. "I won't tell anyone where you are, princess. But, come Monday, I'm dragging your selfish ass back to your brother."

She scoffs, her mouth hanging open. "What? No. You promised—"

"No, Mady, the deal was I wouldn't tell anyone where you are. And I won't. But I'm taking you back to John whether you like it or not."

She turns to leave, livid that he's twisted her words around and conned her into telling him the whole story. He snatches her arm this time, spinning her back around to face him.

"You try and leave this house, and I'll rat you out," he threatened her lowly. "You let me take you back on Monday, and I'll go along with whatever bullshit cover-story you come up with."

More blackmail, how nice of him.

He tightened his grip on her arm, tugging her forward until their faces were closer together. "Got it?"

She bites her tongue, drawing blood. "Yeah, I got it."


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: **I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment. And no matter how much I'd like too, I don't own Justin Gabriel or Heath Slater. I do own Mady.

**Author's Note:**I AM SO SORRY. I know, I know, it's been a decade or something since I last updated this. But I do have a valid reason. I had to deal with a few deaths and surgeries. Not me, fortunately, but the people closest to me. I hope you'll take this kind of shitty attempt at a chapter as an apology. There's even some cute Heath/Alexis. Go on, you know you want to read it.

.

It had been three and a half hours since CM Punk had forced Mady out of the car and into John's waiting arms. He'd almost crushed her lungs when he hugged her, and he hadn't left her side, hadn't been more than two feet from her since.

She'd gotten her phone back, having to delete hundreds of messages and missed phone calls, and her luggage that she'd left at the arena all those weeks ago. She hadn't seen anyone but Punk and John, and she was mostly glad about that.

Confronting their questions wasn't something she was looking to do.

"You know, I can do it without you, John." She huffed when her brother hauled her suitcase into the hotel room, setting it by the wall. He hadn't let her carry anything all morning.

"I just want to help you out." He replied, turning to face her.

"I don't need help. I'm not hurt, I'm not dying." She countered, searching for the remote by the television set.

"You were gone for weeks, almost months, and I had no idea where you were. I had no idea what they were doing to you, if they were hurting you—"

"But I'm back now, and there's not a scratch on me." She held out her arms to show her un-marked skin. The guilt of his speech was forming bile in the back of her throat, and she had to force herself to swallow it.

"I know. I know I must be suffocating you. But I just, I just want to be with you."

She sighed. He could be a huge pain in the ass, but he was still her brother and in the past few weeks she had put him through hell. She tossed him the remote, and he caught it against his chest. "You put it on a car show and I'm out of here."

John chuckled, spinning the remote in his hand as the two took their places on the sofa. Mady threw her legs over his lap, and watched as his smile grew a little more. His little sister was safe and sound beside him, slipping back into their usual sibling rituals.

But still, there was a lot he did not know. She had barely said a word about her attackers or the time she spent with them, not a name or place was mentioned. He knew something big had happened. He could see it in her eyes. A sense of maturity and growth that hadn't been there before, the kind that appears when a person has been through something traumatic.

She wasn't broken, not completely. But he could see that she had been. She had put herself together and missed a few pieces. This obvious change irked him. Even sitting as close as he was, he could feel the unfamiliar distance between them.

"So," He started. "You're not going to tell me what happened?"

Mady looked over at her brother and groaned, pulling her legs from his lap, throwing them over the edge of the sofa in annoyance. "I knew it. I knew that was the reason you've been suffocating me all morning. I told you, I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I do. I want to talk about it. I want to know what happened to you, and why you're being so guarded about it." John turned the volume on the television down and tossed the remote aside. "There's never been a secret between us, Mady. Why start now?"

"Because—" She fought for a valid reason, though she knew there was none.

"I want to know everything. I want to know why you don't want these sons of bitches caught. I want to know why you're protecting them."

"I _don't_ want to talk about it." She forced again, standing from the sofa in the hopes that leaving would drop the conversation.

"Don't give me that bullshit." John followed her, snatching the set of keys from the counter before she could reach them. "You're keeping things from me. I can see it."

Annoyed at his persistence and annoyed at herself, Mady grabbed the keys from him and narrowed her eyes. "There's _a lot_ I'm keeping from you, John."

Stunned, John released the grip he had on the keys, allowing her to walk out the door with them. He followed her to the hallway, trying to catch up with her before she made it to the open elevator. "Madelyn." He shouted. "Don't you walk away from me, Madelyn Grace."

She ignored him, stepping into the elevator just as it was closing its doors. Safely inside, she leaned back against the mirrored walls, resting her head back on the cold surface, and let herself cry a little. Weeks of humiliation of torment, that's what she'd done to her brother.

That's what she had put him through.

And she couldn't ease the weight on his mind because she was protecting her ex-boyfriend from prison. Guilt, hatred for herself, it was all hitting her at once. It was in her veins, icy and cold as it circulated through her body. She wanted to cut herself open to get it all out.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up, unaware that the elevator doors had opened and Heath Slater was now standing in front of her. She had travelled twenty-two floors without being interrupted, sitting on the floor in a crying heap. But she was no longer alone.

She couldn't find the words to speak. The last time she'd seen the red-head, he'd accused her of being a whore. He'd thrown her out into the blistering cold, furious.

She looked down helplessly. "I-I'm fine."

Heath watched her wipe at her eyes, the action pointless against the tears still streaming from them. He heard the ding from the roof and stepped into the elevator before the doors could close on him.

She looked so _alone_.

He knelt down, pulling her hands from her face. She looked exactly as she had that night in Chicago. Her eyes were still as dull, her lips still bruised and quivering. She looked almost afraid of him, afraid of the world outside the elevator they were in. After what she went through, what they put her through, she still came back.

_She came back_. And he had to give her some sort of credit for that.

"No, you're not." He stared at her for a long minute, his own guilt gnawing at him. She had been some kind of a friend at one point. He hadn't known he would miss it this much. Slowly letting go of her wrists, he embraced her into his chest.

It was a mix of things; forgiveness and comfort, friendship and heartache, a silent apology between the two for their wrongs. He felt her relax into him with a hearty-sob, and he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

Neither knew how much time passed before the bell dinged and the doors creaked open on the ground floor. They were in the last elevator on the left, hidden behind a section of wall and a tacky green office plant. Heath reached up and clicked another button, any button, and listened as the doors closed once more.

After another long moment, he released her from his arms, moving to sit beside her as she wiped her eyes again with the back of her sleeve. She sniffled and swallowed, letting out a shaky breath as she carefully dabbed at her eyes. "He's asking so many questions."

The noise was foreign between them, disrupting the peace in the small space, but Heath leaned his head to the left to look at her. John was understandably curious about the situation, and The Nexus had been walking on thin ice for days not knowing if she had given away their names.

"I don't know what to tell him." Mady continued, hanging her head low as her hands fell into her lap. "I don't know what to say. I don't, I don't know what to do."

Heath frowned, seeing the after-math of what had started out as what they thought was a bullet-proof plan. She was left with her big brother breathing down her neck for a cover-story she didn't have.

"I'm sorry."

She looked across at the red-head, frowning with curiosity at his words. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back out of his face for a minute.

"We did this to you. We threw you into this and we threw you out. I, I threw you out. I didn't think about what would happen if you came back. I guess, I don't know, I kind of thought you wouldn't."

"I kind of thought I wouldn't, too."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. I knew you had no one and I still tossed you out. You're in this predicament because of me."

"No, Heath. I'm in this predicament because of Wade Barrett. I'm in this predicament because of myself. This has nothing to do with you."

"It does, in a way. If I hadn't let you walk out that night, you would still be with us. You wouldn't need a cover-story, you wouldn't have John on your back."

"But I'd be miserable. You and Justin and everyone else, you'd all be miserable. It was better that I was gone. No one suspected that it was you."

"John did." Heath let out a small laugh as a memory walked into his head. He looked across at her. "Remember. He walked in without warning and you had to throw yourself at Justin."

She smiled, for a laugh would have been too heavy. "Twice, Heath, I had to do that twice."

The silence returned between them, the smiles slowly slipping from their faces as they stared at the doors ahead. When they opened, Heath reached up and pressed another button. He rested back again. "He looked for you, you know."

Mady glanced at him.

Heath nodded, keeping his eyes ahead. "He made us comb _every_ street of Chicago, call _every_ hotel, motel and restaurant in town."

"But, I, I—"

"He_ misses_ you. Hell, we can't get him to shut up about you." It was light-hearted, his stare soft as he looked at her again. "I know he's going to be really glad you're okay."

Mady sucked in her lip, trying to stop herself from crying again; this time with relief, with happiness, with everything in between. She'd spent a week and a half thinking she would never hear those words, believing Justin Gabriel was _done _with her forever.

"And I know he'd really like to talk to you."

She looked down, the nerves making her hands quiver in her lap. "I-I don't know, Heath. I hurt him. I hurt, I hurt all of you. I ruined everything, I—"

Heath reached over and took one of her hands in his, giving it a soft squeeze. "He's not mad. He's forgiven you, Mady, and if he can do that, if he can put all of this in the past, then I can too."

She smiled, a small tear slipping down her cheek, and squeezed his hand back. The floor numbers counted down above them. Heath slowly got to his feet, and pulled her up with him. His hand dropped from hers as the doors opened on his floor. "I'll see you around?"

He meant it.

She smiled, giving a small nod as he walked off backwards. "I'll see you around, Heath."

And she felt less-alone.


	32. Chapter 32

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, or Justin Gabriel.

Author's Note: Guess who! (I am so, so, so, so, sorry for being M.I.A. I know this chapter isn't a lot but I'm back—and I'll make it up to you, I promise.)

I missed you all so much, forgive me!

* * *

Mady's walking out of the elevator and through the lobby when she feels it, feels the air change. Her stomach twists as she sees him and Justin looks up at the right moment and sees her too.

His stomach flies to his throat for a second as their eyes catch—he's relieved to see her, he'll admit that. Nervous too, but relieved. And he continues to walk towards her, the two getting closer.

It was like the past had been forgotten for a few uninterrupted moments, their arms crashing around each other in a warm and much needed embrace. There were tears and "I love you's" as Justin pulled her as close as he could.

Justin didn't care anymore—okay, maybe he did. Maybe he was still a little bitter and sometimes, especially at night, all he could think about was the fact that Wade Barrett had fucked his girlfriend. Wade Barrett said he "loved" his girlfriend. Finding out she was gone, not being able to find her, the night he sat in a Chicago jail cell, all of it, it all made him feel sick in his stomach.

But then he pushed it away, those thoughts, those doubts, they were at the back of his mind right now. All that mattered was that she was in his arms again, and he told her that by placing a soft kiss to the side of her head.

He wanted to start over, forgive and forget.

"I love you." He told her, cupping her perfect face in his hands.

She placed hers on top of his and closed her eyes. "J, I-I'm so sorry. I, I never meant to—"

"Shh," He kissed her forehead before resting his against it. "Let's not ruin this right now."

They heard a faint, annoyed "Hey" in the background but ignored it, lost in each other's touch. It wasn't until someone shoved Justin away hard that they finally snapped back to reality.

"John." Mady shouts, steadying herself on her nude-colored heels.

John looked right past his sister to the South African native, eyes narrowing and fists clenching. "You don't get to do that anymore."

"Oh, really." Justin chuckled, amused.

"You lost that privilege when you decided not to help me find my sister." John wanted to shove him, wanted to put his fist through his face but he didn't, not while Mady was standing there.

"You know what, Cena, I know a lot more and helped a lot more than you think." Justin smirked, uncharacteristically. He didn't even realise what he'd said until he watched John's eyebrows crease together. _Oops_, _too much information_.

John frowned and turned to his sister. "What the hell is he on about, Mady?"

Mady sighed and wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks with her sleeve. "I called him, okay? While I was...gone, I called him."

"You called him?" John sounded hurt, his eyes bulging in his head.

"A couple of times, here and there, whenever I got the chance." Mady told him. John was staring at her bewildered, she guessed because she hadn't called him instead. "I begged him not to tell you and that's why—"

"Why?" John demanded. "Why call _him_? I spent weeks and weeks worried sick about you, searching God damn cities for you, and you're out there calling him, telling him **not** to tell me that he **knows **where you are? Do you hear yourself? Do, do you know how fucking _sick_that sounds?"

"I knew if I called you, if someone told you where I was, you'd come running, that you'd just drop everything that's important to you—"

"_You're _important to me." John snapped, annoyed. "Of course I'd drop everything to come rescue you."

"You would have missed shows, John. Appearances, shoots, everything. I couldn't let you do that for me."

"You were kidnapped for Christ sake, which, by the way, we still have to discuss." John then turned his attention on Justin. Mady almost forgot he'd been there. "And you, the nerve you have, boy. Did you tell her about your bar rats before you stuck your tongue down her throat?"

Justin clenched his jaw. If only John knew. But before he or Mady could reply, there were footsteps—accompanied by the voice neither of them wanted to hear right now.

"Mady, well, well, well, what a surprise." Wade smirked, Harris and McGillicutty a step behind him. They looked from Mady to Justin to John—silently hoping their names were still off the 'kidnapper' list.

_This can't get any worse_, she thinks, watching the leader of Nexus near them.

"What do you want, Barrett?" John snapped impatiently. Right now, in that minute, on that day, he wasn't in the mood for the Nexus or their bullshit.

Wade almost ignored John completely, staring at the petite woman instead. "There's some unfinished business between Mady and I. And, I think now is the right time to resolve it."

"What _business_ could you possibly have with my little sister?"

Mady bit down on her lip, trying to get Wade to shut up with her stare. Justin sucked on his teeth—he still had beef with Wade, still wanted to finish their own 'business' because frankly busting his nose wasn't enough.

"Before she was..._taken_, I made your sister an offer." Wade explained. By the smirk on his face, he was having far too much fun with this. "One she was very interested in taking, isn't that right, Mady? You were interested in a place in Nexus."

Mady sighed and rubbed her temple with her finger, John's head whipping to stare daggers through her. "Mady, what the fuck—"

"I thought that conversation was confidential...a _secret_." Mady spoke through her teeth at Barrett. Was he insane? Justin had almost slipped up and now Barrett was here making everything worse—as usual.

"You were considering _joining_ them?" John almost shouted. He felt like laughing, it was that bizarre to him.

Mady was still trying to figure out Barrett's angle—was he doing this because he knew they had unfinished beef with Orton, or was he doing it to just be a tool. She was on the fence, but leaning a little more to the 'tool' side.

"Mady."

John barking at her snapped her out of her thoughts. "I was considering it, yes." She answered him. "I thought it would be good for my career."

"Your, your career? Mady, they're a bunch of assholes with no thought for anyone but themselves. Hell, they'd sell each other down the river to get ahead. You don't need them to further your career, you're a Cena—"

"Maybe I'm sick of being a Cena." Mady snapped harshly, feelings of being in John's shadow flooding back. "Like I said the other day, John, I'm not a kid. I don't want to be treated like one."

"So, what, you're just going to side with, with..._them_?"

"So what if I am?" Mady asked. "It's my decision, right, my career?"

"I don't approve of this." John didn't want to hear another word. He grabbed his sister's arm and started walking until she shrugged him off.

"This is what I'm talking about!" She shouts, throwing her manicured hands into the air with a frustrated groan. "You, you don't get it, John." Wade, Justin, Harris and McGillicutty watched on amused. "Come on."

John grabbed her arm again as she tried to walk away. He lowered his face to hers and bared his teeth. "Let me go." She warned.

"You listen to me, Madelyn Grace." He snarled. "Like it or not, you're my little sister, and I will not sit here and let you throw your career away like this. You're coming with me."

"Let her go." Justin stepped forward and grabbed John's shirt in his hand.

"Step off, Gabriel." John snapped at him, shoving him away.

Justin swung at the older man, catching him under the jaw. John's grip on Mady faltered as he stumbled backwards in shock. As soon as he registered what had happened, he went to launch forward to retaliate but Mady had already dragged Justin down the hall, looking over her shoulder at her older brother.

And in that stare, John barely recognized her.

_He didn't even recognize his own sister._


	33. Chapter 33

"I'm having a bit of trouble understanding this." Morrison frowned deep, lacing his boots on the sofa.

John had arrived at the arena that afternoon in a foul mood and without Mady. He'd been shut away in his locker room for hours before he let Morrison and Kelly in, the room almost trashed.

"So you're telling me that Mady, _our_ Mady, has joined _the_ Nexus, as in Wade fucking Barrett and the Nexus?"

"No, she wouldn't." Kelly dismissed the thought, shaking her head as she cleaned up the remains of John's earlier out-burst. Sure, Mady had been acting a little different since Punk had brought her back, and sure she'd been slowly icing them all out but—Kelly frowned again, "Would she?"

"She is." John gritted his teeth. It ached to do so. Justin's knuckles had caught him right on the bone earlier, leaving a fresh lavender bruise under the skin. "Barrett has to have something on her. He's got to be blackmailing her or, or something—my sister wouldn't just _join_ the Nexus."

"What could he possibly have on her, John? I mean, she's been gone for weeks."

"I don't know." John roared, frustrated. He didn't mean to snap but nothing was making sense—his little sister was taken, she won't discuss the ordeal or the attackers, and when she's finally returned he discovers she's joined the enemy team.

Hell, she hadn't even come to the arena with him. Swagger had seen her leaving the hotel with Justin, Wade and the Nexus.

"Calm down, man." Morrison warned him lightly. "We'll figure this out."

"Yeah, just give it time. She's been through a lot lately." Kelly nodded, placing a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "You don't just recover from an ordeal like that. We have to let her settle back in."

"She can settle back in without the Nexus."

"Look, after this morning she probably won't be speaking to you. I'll call Melina and see if she can get through to her." Morrison left the room after that, phone to his ear as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

Melina hung up with Morrison and turned on her heels, asking a tech man if he'd seen any sign of the younger Cena. He pointed her down the hall and told her she'd been last seen down that way with the Nexus.

It made Melina's stomach flip, that what John had told them all had been true—Mady Cena was the newest addition to RAW's, no WWE's most hated stable. But she set out that way anyway, finding them eventually.

"Hey," the Latina called out, getting their attention.

Wade turned and looked at her with little interest. He didn't care much for his co-workers, barely his team mates—to him, neither were in his league. He needed them to get ahead. "We'll be in the locker room."

Harris, Skip, Otunga, McGillicutty and Heath followed him as he passed Melina, the six of them staring her down.

It was intimidating to a woman who was half their size but she didn't flinch, not until Skip grunted in her face. Justin, a step behind, looked over his shoulder at Mady as he walked, ignoring Melina all together.

Mady had spent lunch-time in the Nexus hotel room, airing out the past week or two—from the Justin-Wade ordeal onwards. Most had forgiven her. If Justin could, they could. Most were just relieved that no one suspected them.

Having Mady back wasn't helping Justin and Wade's resentment towards each other all too much, but like it or not, they were team mates again. But Justin wasn't afraid to put his foot through Wade's knee again if necessary, if he so much as laid a hand on her.

Melina looked from the retreating men to her friend. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing." Mady replied nonchalantly, heading in the opposite direction with Melina following.

"Oh, don't give me that, Mady—since when are you all buddy-buddy with Wade Barrett and his goons?"

"I _am not_ buddy-buddy with him—" She snapped a little too forcibly. Their steamy, regret-filled night still played in her mind sometimes. "—_them_." She corrected carefully. "I just have some unfinished business to deal with and they're...well, I don't know if helping is the right word."

_Fucking things up more like it_, she thought.

"And what unfinished business is that?"

"Now, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you."

Melina grabbed her elbow, stopping her from walking any further. With one sharp pull, she had Mady facing her. "What's gotten into you, Mady?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't even know who you are, Mads."

"Oh, please, not this." Mady scoffed. "I've already heard this from John, I don't need to hear it from you too."

"Maybe you should listen to him, to all of us. We want to help you, Mady, but we can't do that when you're being a completely different person to before you left—"

"Kidnapped, Melina, I was _kidnapped_." Mady snapped back. "I didn't choose to leave, okay, they, they _made_ me. They—" She stopped herself. Even 'they' was a bit of a risk, even 'they' was giving away too much information.

"_They_, who, Mady?"

"Forget it." Mady shook her head and tried to walk away. She'd already said too much and Wade was going to have her head if she slipped up any further.

"I'm trying to help you." Melina screams after her. "We've been friends for years, Mady, for years, and I'm trying to help you here. We're all trying to help you, that's all we want to do, but you're not giving us anything—"

"I don't want your help, Melina, okay? I don't want anyone's help so you, all of you, need to back the fuck off and leave me alone."

"We can find them, Mady, the men who took you. We're going to find them, but you need to help us here—" She went to grab Mady's elbow again, but the younger girl turned and swung her fist, catching the Latina in the cheek.

As Melina stood there with her hand pressed against her cheek, eyes wide in shock of what had just occurred; Mady spat her next words through her teeth.

"Maybe, I don't want them to be _found_."

A third voice interrupted their stare-down.

"Mady," It was Stephanie McMahon, in the flesh, and she looked far from impressed. "In my office, **now**."

_Crap._


	34. Chapter 34

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, or Justin Gabriel.

**Author's Note:** It feels so good to continue this story, and to get back into Mady's head. I've missed you all so much, and getting your reviews are the best part of my day. So thank you— _thank you so much_.

* * *

Mady huffed and followed Stephanie down the hall, like a student to the principal's office. She hadn't heard of the youngest McMahon's return, and this, well this wasn't exactly the way she'd planned to find out.

"Keep up." Stephanie told the younger woman as they walked, her office door coming into view. Mady gritted her teeth and ignored the stares and questioning whispers from passing co-workers, keeping her head up and her temper tamed.

As they walked into the decorated office, Mady's eyebrows creased together on the bridge of her nose. John was seated in a leather chair in front of Stephanie's desk, fiddling with his thumbs as he awaited their entrance.

He looked up as the door clicked shut.

"_You_ called _Stephanie_?" Mady exploded, shoving her finger in Stephanie's direction as her brother rose from his seat.

John didn't know why he felt so guilty. He'd seen the same burning stare in her eyes since they were kids—every time he ratted her out or got her into trouble for something he did.

But this time was different, she was different. Her stare was cold, almost icy, and he barely recognized her. It made him feel uneasy, shaky almost. "I, I didn't know what else to do."

"He's told me how worried he is about you, Mady." Stephanie interjected with a stern look, taking her spot behind the mahogany desk. "And after seeing that little altercation between you and Melina out in the hall, I'd say he has every right to be. Now, **sit**."

"I'm not a dog." Mady scoffed, crossing her arms over her ample chest. She couldn't believe John would stoop as low as to call _Stephanie McMahon_, the boss—well, the boss' daughter.

"Wait, altercation?" John asked, frowning before his eyes grew wide and he spun on his heels to stare at his sister. "You _hit_ Melina?" He asked, appalled.

"It was a small tap to the face, calm down—"

"Mady, Melina's your _best friend_—"

"After that," Mady threw her thumb over her shoulder at the hall. "I doubt it."

Stephanie sucked on her teeth and tried to remain calm. The twenty three year old in front of her was acting more like her four year old daughter. "Look, we're only here to help you, Mady."

"Oh, you're _helping_ me, are you?" Mady asked sarcastically. She let out a low, amused chuckle. "You know, 'cause you all helped _so much_ while I was missing—"

"We tried." John roared. "I didn't sleep, Mady. I didn't sleep, all I did was look for you, look for someone who could tell me where you were, look for, for anything. I'm exhausted, Mads, I'm at the end of my rope. So don't you dare stand there and tell me that I didn't try—"

"Well, you obviously didn't_ try_ hard enough, did you?" Mady rolled her eyes, her voice climbing in volume. "I was in the same room as you twice while I was missing, John—**twice**. I looked right at you, I was looking right at my big brother and did, did you notice me, did you _'find'_ me then? No, John, you didn't. Because you weren't looking for _me_." She swallowed. "You were looking for them."

"I—"

"And as for everyone else," Mady continued. "They have a really funny way of showing that they give two shits about me. Randy for instance spent the whole time I was gone taking his anger out on the Nexus with a steel chair—like that was going to do anything for _me_."

"Mads—" John started before his eyebrows creased. She hadn't been there to witness that. "Wait, how'd you know about that?"

She swallowed and covered her slip-up with a nonchalant shrug. "It's all over the internet. You know, it makes me sick to think that Randy was more interested in injuring Justin than finding me."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Mady spat. "He hasn't had it out for Justin since I started dating him? Come on, John, you're his best friend—you know he likes me. You knew how much he abused Justin while we were together because, you know what, he was jealous. He wanted me and for the first time in two fucking years, I didn't want him back—"

"He still wants you, Mady, he still cares about you—"

"Well, it's a little too late for that, isn't it?" She turned to Stephanie who'd been watching in silence. "Now, you." She closed the gap between herself and the desk, leaning her weight on it as she leant down to Stephanie's level. "Unlike the Nexus, who run on their own terms, Randy Orton's actions were under your jurisdiction, Stephanie. And I, as the newest member, would like to see him reprimanded for his actions, or I'll have no choice but to sue you and the company for indifference."

The office door opened then and Wade Barrett strolled in with Skip Sheffield looking more than annoyed. Otunga had overheard a tech man saying that Mady had been taken into McMahon's office for questioning and he'd almost shit himself.

Wade, on the other hand, knew Mady was smarter than that. She wasn't going to rat them out to anyone, let alone the boss. And he knew he'd been right when Mady turned to look at him with a small, proud smirk.

He didn't know exactly what it was, but she had it under control. So, for once, he kept his arrogant mouth shut and stood with Skip at the door to let her continue.

"Well, I guess their my cue to leave. Stephanie." Mady pushed herself upright. "I know you're a smart woman. You'll make the right decision. Or, I guess I'll be seeing you in court."

John stared, open mouthed at his sister as she joined Barrett's side. With a sneer and a small wave, she left the room with a sarcastic "ciao".

"What the hell was that?" Stephanie demanded once the door had closed behind them. "Or should I say _who_ the hell was that— John, I've never seen her like that before."

"_That's _why I called you." John replied, face in his hands.

"Well apparently, after...that, not even I can do anything to help her." Stephanie sighed. John's shoulders sunk even more—any further and they'd slip right off. It pained her to see her best employee lost, but she knew what she had to do.

"But I may know who can."

John looked up, puffy eyes hopeful.

Stephanie reached for her phone and pressed speed dial, waiting until a familiar voice filled the other end. "Hunter, honey, I need you to do me a favour..."


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: **I don't own World Wrestling Entertainment, and as much as I wish to, I don't own Justin Gabriel.

**Author's Note: **Ha, you thought I'd left again. Scared you for a bit, didn't I? No, no, I'm still here. There's just a lot going on so may be a few days between updates but I'll do my best. So, reviews are awesome-thank you so much to those who review, it means a lot.

So, I'm going to put this out there for all of you-what would YOU like to see happen in the next few chapters? Review your answers! I'd like to hear from you all, and to hear all your crazy ideas! Besos! 

* * *

"What're you doin' out here so late?"

Mady looked up at the sound that broke her thoughts, Wade's tall frame visible through the crack in the balcony doors. Everyone else had fallen asleep as soon as they'd gotten to the hotel, crashing onto couches and beds, some with their wrestling attire still on. Justin had been one of the first to go, asking if she was going to lie with him.

Although they'd put past events behind them, they were still there. And sometimes they found themselves dwelling on their actions, the good and the not so good—sometimes Mady even questioned it all, every bit of it, right from the night they took her. But what was done, was done. And they had to live with that.

They loved each other, that much was true. But is love worth it if you're constantly hurting one another? Justin and Mady did that best, hurt each other—like it was a contest on who could hit the hardest.

"Can't sleep." She admitted carefully to Wade's shadow.

They were still on rocky ground, given she'd had sex with him and her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, boyfriend had handed his ass to him. She'd spent so much time hating him, pointing her finger and casting the blame, but to be honest—she didn't hate him, disliked a little, but he didn't tear her life apart on his own—

He had some help from her.

"Want some company?"

It took a long moment before she mustered a reply. Half of her said it was a bad idea and he'd caused enough damage as it was. That and their track record on balconies had never led to good things.

The other half, the balanced half, knew she couldn't point her finger at him forever. He may have started all this, but her hand dealt a lot of the cards. "Sure."

She listened as the balcony doors squeaked open and shut, his feet shuffling along the ground to the chair beside her. It was quiet for a few minutes, comfortable, like their heavy air had thinned a little.

"You don't have to stay awake—" She began.

"Ah, who needs sleep." He chuckled in response.

The sound was familiar—he hadn't laughed in a while, especially around her. Oddly enough, Mady found herself chuckling too. "You sound like Heath before he collapsed and conked out on the sofa in there."

"Unlike Slater, I'm not a five year old child."

There was no sound, but the two of them smiled. It was odd to think they were on speaking terms again, team mates for all intents and purposes. Team mates with a past, that is—a drunken tryst.

"It's going to be interesting next week." Wade broke the silence easily, his accent echoing into the city lights around them. "With Triple H coming back, and all."

"Interesting isn't the word I'd use." Mady chewed on her lip for a second before turning to his shadow, curling her legs up beneath her. "Wade, I don't know if the plan's going to work with Hunter around."

She watched the shadow of his head turn to her. "Look, I _know_ Hunter, I've known him for years, Wade, and he's not stupid. He's going to take one look at this and see right through us."

"So, what are you saying—" Wade frowned. It was a bit late to turn their backs now—they'd committed kidnapping, their asses had assigned seats in prison. "You want us to drop everything?"

"No." She shook her head. "No, we've come too far for that."

"Then what, Mady, what do you want us to do?"

It surprised her how calm he was, no temper, no shouting. He'd actually asked it as if she were the leader and he the follower—what did _she_ want _them_ to do. "I don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure that out."

"You let me know what the go is, until then the plan is on hold indefinitely." He looked across at her fidgeting hands and placed on of his on her knee. "Breathe. We'll figure it out."

She didn't flinch at his touch, didn't try to push him away or yell. It was kind of nice, a comforting gesture. "What if it's not—what if this is where it all ends? You'll go to prison, you'll all go—"

He gave her knee a soft squeeze, her skin warm to touch. "I promise you, we'll figure it out." 

* * *

"Good morn—God, you look like shit." Heath laughed at the sight of Mady, half-asleep at the table. She looked like she'd slept for an hour at most, hair a mess and circle impressions under her eyes.

Wade, looking tad better than the blond, grunted. "Instead of insulting her, how about you go and get her a coffee, hey Slater?"

Mady offered Wade a small, thankful smile and pushed herself up from the table. "No, that's okay, I was going to go down to the cafe and get one myself."

"Mady, I, I didn't mean it like that—"

"Heath," she stopped him with a smile. "It's fine. I've looked at myself in the mirror this morning and yes, I do look like shit."

"Impossible." Justin appeared from one of the bedrooms and placed a soft kiss to the side of her head as he made his way to the hotel mini-bar for a bottle of water. Wade cringed and gritted his teeth, looking elsewhere.

God damn Gabriel—always fucking ruining things.

Mady rolled her eyes playfully at him and grabbed her purse from the table, looking around at Husky, Otunga and Heath—the only other's up. "I'll be back in a minute. Does anyone want anything?"

A chorus of "no's" and "nah's" echoed around the room before she nodded and headed out of the suite. Santino and Natalya were having a conversation down the hall a little, the two of them stopping momentarily to look in her direction. Natalya, who'd heard all about Mady's altercation with Melina, offered a weak, cautious smile.

They held eyes for a long moment, Mady's throat going dry, but she eventually dropped her eyes and headed in the opposite direction—the superstars were going to talk about her, joining the biggest heel stable in the company will do that.

Thankfully, the hotel cafe was clear of superstars, filled only with holiday-goers and business men. Ordering herself a large vanilla latte, Mady hoped to get back to the room without any awkward encounters.

"Mady, hey."

She spun, refraining from throwing her head back in defeat. She had never been _that_ lucky—considering Randy Orton was quickly making his way over to her.

"Oh, _come on_." She muttered. Could the day get any worse?

"Randy where are you—_oh_." John stopped in his tracks.

"Can you two stop walking so fast, I haven't had my morning coffee and—" Melina almost crashed right into John, her eyes burning. There was a nice lavender blemish on her cheek; it wasn't too noticeable from afar, blending in with her tanned skin, but Mady had put it there.

Yes, yes the day _could_ get worse.

Mady found her voice, somewhere in the pit where her stomach used to be—her stomach was about to fall out her ass. "Hi."

He took her one worded response as an invitation to embrace her, pulling her petite frame close to his. He took in the familiar scent of her perfume and pulled away with a smile—they hadn't had a chance to see each other since she'd gotten back.

Mady stood their awkwardly, knowing her brother and the woman she'd punched the night before were both staring at her.

"We're going to go out for breakfast, if you want to join us—"

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, Randy. I don't think I'm welcome."

"I don't mind." John spoke up, flinching a little when Melina turned to glare at him. He thought she was going to hit him, but Mady was his little sister, and he would do anything to protect her—especially from Wade Barrett.

Mady swallowed. "I'm not hungry, besides I've got to get back to—"

"—your _goons_?" Melina sneered.

"Excuse you?" Mady snapped, looking around Randy's torso to the Latina.

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but it was a little difficult to understand you through your swollen mouth."

John grabbed Melina's arm as she went to step forward, and hauled her out of the cafe. She already had one purple cheek, he was sure she didn't need another one. Mady watched her go, waving to rub it in. She was starting to wonder how she was ever friends with that bitch.

"I guess I'll see you around." Randy looked from John and Melina to Mady, expression unreadable. "Give me a call, yeah? I missed you."

Before she had the chance to reply, he lowered his lips to hers with a kiss. She hardly breathed as he pulled away, shooting her a smirk as he walked away, leaving her with a spearmint gum taste in her mouth.

_Wade, Justin and Randy—oh, Mady you whore_, she thought to herself, rubbing her temple softly with her manicured finger.


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer:**I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, or Justin Gabriel.

**Author's Note:** I am loving your responses to the question I left you in the last chapter—so I'm going to leave it up for this chapter as well. Please review your answers: I'd love to hear them!

_What would you like to see happen in the coming chapters? Who do YOU like Mady paired with?_

As always, thank you for reading and please enjoy!

* * *

She'd been so distracted since the encounter with Randy.

She hadn't said a word to anyone since she'd come back to the suite, forgetting all about her coffee, barely touching it until after it had gone stale and cold. All of the boys had noticed—Wade and Justin especially. But she hadn't given either a solid answer when they'd asked what the matter was.

"I'll carry that." Justin stooped down and grabbed the handle on Mady's cheetah patterned suitcase, lifting it off the floor. The contents of it had been so full and so heavy that she'd had to sit on it in order to close it. He offered a small smile and disappeared through the door with McGillicutty and Harris.

As the other's filed out after him, Wade pulled Mady aside. He frowned at the distant stare on her face. She was obviously distracted in deep thought and she had no desire to let either of them in on it. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She tried to say it as convincingly as she could but he wasn't buying it. "Wade, I'm just, there's just so much going on right now."

He watched her head duck down as she sighed. He tucked two fingers under her chin and lifted her face up to his. "Hey, I told you we'd figure the Hunter thing out. I promised you that."

She nodded—there was more to her distraction than the Hunter situation but she decided the rest was her problem, not his. "I know."

"Stop stressing." She watched his lips twitch into a small smile as his hand dropped back to his side. Grabbing his own suitcase he headed out the door. "You're far too beautiful to stress."

Her stomach fluttered at the compliment, and the guilt. She knew Wade still had feelings for her, he'd said it himself not long ago—and she'd been stringing him along ever since the night she'd slept with him. Whether there were actual feelings for the Brit somewhere inside her or she simply liked the attention, she was starting to feel more drawn to him.

Grabbing her phone and purse from the table, she headed out after him, closing the suite door behind her. Heath had the elevator door open and she stepped in between Wade and Justin, both giving her a doting smile—awkward.

* * *

"Just saw Mady rock up with the Nexus." Morrison frowned as he returned to his hall-way conversation with John and Randy with a bottle of soda from catering. "Man, it's still fucking weird to think she's a part of that."

"Don't worry, she won't be for long." Randy told him, stretching out his arms for his up-coming match. "As long as everything goes according to plan until Hunter gets here next week."

John, who had knelt down to tie his laces, sighed heavily. "I hope you pretending to like her back distracts her long enough, man."

John couldn't believe he'd said that—couldn't believe he was using Mady's fondness of Orton against her. But what choice did he have? Wade Barrett was turning his little sister against him, the whole of the Nexus was—he needed to end it.

"It will, don't you worry." Orton assured him. "She followed me like a lost puppy for two years, and I bet she's still reeling from that kiss this morning."

"If you say so." John sighed as the three of them disbanded to their respective locker rooms when stage-hands began to shout 'show-time'.

Once their voices began to recoil, CM Punk rounded the corner to watch their backs, his mouth a-jar and his eyebrows tight in frown. Had he just heard what he thought he'd just heard?

"_What the actual fuck_."

* * *

The Voice of the Voiceless hadn't spoken to Mady since their untimely discussion in his grandmother's bathroom—when he'd first found out the truth behind her so-called kidnapping.

He'd been trying to keep his distance ever since because—a) he'd wanted nothing more than to walk right up to John and tell him the truth, the whole truth, whether Mady was ready for him to hear it or not and b) John and the other superstars were pressuring her enough as it was.

Truthfully, he'd been watching her—trying to understand why she would have done the things she'd done. Settling into the Nexus, becoming a part of their plan to bring down John and Orton, protecting her new 'friends' from the punishment they deserved.

He'd been watching Randy Orton more closely, too. Beforehand, he'd been a mere co-worker, a "hello" and "see you later" kind of acquaintance—Punk hadn't really paid much attention. But in the past week, Punk had watched him fraternize with women in skimpy clothing and claim their phone numbers as prizes.

Mady had been right—he was a douchebag. And Punk found himself agreeing with the plan to knock him down a few pegs. Especially after hearing the Apex Predator admit to be "pretending" when he showed her affection.

It made Punk sick to his stomach, it made him livid, more so when he spotted the younger Cena down the hall, stretching in her tiny gold wrestling shorts. How could Randy Orton stand there and kiss her without reciprocating the feelings?

He stopped near her and coughed to make his presence known. She straightened and turned to him with a small frown, crossing her tanned arms over her chest. "Evening, princess."

"What do _you_ want?"

"Well aren't you in a delightful mood." He chuckled, her glare doing nothing to intimidate him. It kind of made her look, well, hot.

"If you're here to yell at me, Punk, save that awful breath of yours. I'd say you did enough of that at your grandmother's." She gave him a sarcastic smile and stepped around him.

"Oh, ouch." Punk chuckled with mock-hurt, holding his wounded ego. He began to follow her, hands shoved into his hoodie pockets. "Not here to yell at you, princess."

"Then what _are_ you here for?" She asked, feigning interest.

"I need to talk to you."

"Like I said, we did enough 'talking' at your grandmother's. Remember? You spent fifteen minutes blackmailing me and making my hand bleed."

She could hear the smirk in his voice as he sniggered at the memory. "Ah, that I do remember. But alas, this isn't blackmail—this is about one Randy Orton."

She stopped abruptly. The taste of spearmint gum made her mouth water as she remembered the morning kiss. She turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "What could you possibly have to say to me about Orton?"

Punk reached to the handle of the door to his left and opened it wide, nodding for her to step inside. _Must be big_, she thought. Taking a quick look around them, she sighed and crossed her arms again as she headed inside.

"Okay, what is it, Punk?" She turned on her heel to face him as he closed the door behind them.

"Orton kissed you this morning, didn't he?" It wasn't a question, more of a statement. He knew. He_ knew_ Orton had kissed her.

She parted her lips—how on Earth did he know that. "How—"

"I heard him talking about it, 'bout thirty minutes ago. You know he didn't mean it, don't you, Mady." She looked up at him and blinked. "That kiss was bullshit, like everything else that comes out of his mouth."

"You're—"

"Go ask him if you don't believe me." Punk shrugged, holding the door open for her as he gestured into the hall. "Go on. Ask him if he cares about you. I bet he doesn't even blink when you do."

She walked to the door and stared into the hall, her heart hitching in her chest. She'd spent all day wondering about that kiss, spent all day re-living it—what if it had been for nothing.

She softened her stare as she turned to him, bones trembling. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because—" he breathed, lowering his face until it was inches from hers. She smelt like coconut body wash and cocoa butter moisturizer—it was intoxicating. She swallowed roughly, staring up into his ragged green eyes.

"—I think you deserve a lot better than that, princess."


	37. Chapter 37

**Disclaimer:**I do not own World Wrestling Entertainment, or Justin Gabriel.

* * *

"There you are." Wade stopped when he reached her, his eyes travelling to the half-empty tequila bottle in her grasp. He didn't know whether it had been full or not when she'd started drinking from it but she was beginning to sway on the stool she was on.

She turned her beautiful face up to greet him and her red, glassy eyes didn't go unnoticed. She'd been crying.

"I've had a shit afternoon."

He sighed as he sat down on the stool beside hers and reached out to steady her by the small of her back. "I can see that, sweetheart."

And as she took another big swig from the bottle, he kept his lips quiet and his touch calm—his worry for the blond outweighing his annoyance in whomever or whatever made her this sad.

After a few long moments, she spoke again. "Orton has been pretending to like me."

Wade bites his tongue and tries to remain calm. "Do you want to talk about it?"

* * *

"_I mean, fuck, Randy! I left Justin for you—like I actually believed I had a chance with you, like you'd finally give me the time of day. And it was all a lie?"_

"_Mady, wait—"_

"_No. Go fuck yourself."_

* * *

After a few long moments, she shook her head, salty tears swelling in her eyes. "Not really."

"Okay." He nods.

It fell quiet between them for some time before she threw her head back, in her inebriated state, to consume another swig of tequila. She lost balance on the stool and almost face-plants the floor but Wade pulls her into him and steadies her on her feet.

"But I think you've had enough of this for one night." He told her, reaching for the bottle in her hand. "Okay?" He continued, waiting until she nods before he takes it and places it on the bar behind him.

He cocked his head to the side, noticing her staring at him, arms beginning to slide up his chest to wrap around his neck. He swallows roughly at how little space there is between her lips and his. "This didn't turn out so well for us the first time, love—"

"I know" Mady nods, cutting him off with her lips as her hands roam to the back of his neck, pulling his face closer to hers as their tongues duel.

There's something about Wade that she can't quite put her finger on. Something that's been there beneath their arguing and violence and general "dislike" for each other—and funnily enough, she thinks it's a _crush_.

Why else would she have crawled into his bed that night when, even in her inebriated state, she knew Justin had been one room over?

But Wade knows he can't let her do this, no matter how very badly he wanted to. Not again, not drunk on tequila. And so, when her kiss eases and her grip loosens, he slowly and reluctantly disconnects their lips and brushes the hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"Let's save ourselves the trouble, sweetheart."

He got to his feet, slapped a fifty on the bar to pay for the tequila she'd consumed and headed for the door, turning back when he noticed she hadn't followed. She's standing there in her short red dress and nude-colored heels staring at the ground.

"Do you hate me?" She hiccupped quietly. Wade frowned at the question the intoxicated blond has thrown in his direction.

Mady looked up when he didn't answer and lets out a small amused huff. "Of course you do. That was a stupid question." She sits back and luckily finds the stool without toppling over. "Everyone does."

"I don't."

"You should. I've ruined everything."

"You haven't ruined anything, Mady." Wade sighed at her defeated tone. "Or even if you have, there's no way you did it on your own."

"But everyone still hates me."

Wade crouched in front of the stool and placed his hand comfortingly on her tanned, trembling knee. "I don't."

"You should."

He stared into her teary-blue eyes and shook his head softly at her whisper, wishing someone so beautiful didn't have to look so sad. "Well, I don't." He states again. "Not even a little bit."

Mady offered him a short, small smile and leaned all the way forward until her head was buried into his shoulder and her arms tight around his neck. "Thank you."

He suddenly noticed how truly _vulnerable_ she'd become, how different she was to the young woman he'd snatched all those weeks ago.

She'd been larger than life back then, adored by co-workers and friends alike—just like her brother. And now, she'd lost that, lost grip on everything she once knew. And that was his fault, more than anyone's—

He destroyed her.

And now she was slowly drowning in her emotions, sinking with the weight of all the stress and he would give anything, anything to turn back the clock and stop Justin, Otunga and Harris from grabbing her that night.

Because she could have been _happy_.

_She should be happy._

Wade felt her body slowly become dead weight as the tiredness sunk in and he got to his feet, swinging her legs over his arm bridal-style. She whimpered and buried her nose into the crook of his neck sleepily, sending shivers down his spine as he left the bar.

He caught the elevator just as the doors were closing. Pressing button twenty-six, he leaned back against the glass and stared down at her in his arms. He wanted to take care of her. Not only on this night, right now, but every night and every day.

He wanted to fix what he'd done to her, make it all go away so she wouldn't have to cry and consume three-quarters of a bottle of tequila just to_ feel_ something.

But the damage couldn't be undone, even he knew that.

Harris was snoring loudly on the sofa when he opened the door to their hotel suite. He could see Skip on the ground by the television and Otunga on another sofa by the window but the other members of Nexus didn't seem to be present in the room.

Not that it mattered to him.

Wade stepped over Skip and nudged the bedroom door open with his foot. Mady stirred in his arms as he leaned over to lay her onto the bed but remained asleep even when Husky's snores erupted like a jet-plane from the lounge—thank you, tequila!

He grabbed the crisp, white sheets from the end of the bed and covers her with them, retreating from the room soon after to create a make-shift bed out of sofa cushions on the floor by Skip.

He knows he won't get a full night's sleep. Not with Husky the jet-plane in close proximity.


	38. Chapter 38

**Disclaimer:** I don't own World Wrestling Entertainment, it's employees or affiliates.

**Author's Note:** Boo! Thought I was dead? Well, I'm not. But I did get a second wind for this story so here's hoping more chapters follow soon!

* * *

The sound startled Mady and she removed her hands from her face, sitting up in the bed to offer him a confused—and squinted—stare. He smiled and walked towards her with the mug of steaming coffee he'd made for her, holding it out to her.

She accepted it, wrapping her palms around the warm surface. No matter how hard she tried to remember the previous six hours, only bits and pieces returned. She looked to Wade, standing by the bed. "I feel like death."

"Well, you did drink your way through three quarters of a bottle of tequila." Wade replied, chuckling when she groaned and rubbed her face with her free hand. _That_ she remembered—her mouth still tasted like tequila and vomit.

She sighed and looked up at him again. "We didn't, um, you know—"

"No." He assured her with a shake of his head. Despite wanting too—really, really, really wanting too—especially when she tried to stick her tongue down his throat—he'd kept his hands to himself and slept on the floor in the living room. She nodded, relieved that she hadn't made _that_ mistake a second time.

"What did happen last night?"

"I found you at the bar drowning your sorrows." Wade explained. "And then when you practically passed out on my shoulder, I brought you up here to bed."

"And you slept—"

"—on the floor under Harris who snores like a jet plane." Wade almost rolled his tired eyes.

"Is that why you look almost as bad as I do?" Mady joked.

"Well, that, and _someone_ wanted to go swimming at three o'clock in the morning." He smirked as she groaned again and covered her face with her hands. "I caught you climbing onto the washing machine to get a towel, got you down and then you threw up in the sink."

Mady groaned again but chuckled at herself. "Kill me."

"No, no, it was very entertaining." Wade assured her.

She shoved him lightly and placed the mug of coffee on the bedside table before she rolled the covers down her legs, throwing them over the side of the mattress. The sudden movement made her sway and her stomach lurch. "Please tell me I don't have to be anywhere today." She groaned, head between her knees.

He chuckled and moved to grab the packet of aspirin from the draws. He popped two and offered them to her. "No, you're good."

She straightened her back as she took the pills from his hand, just as Justin walked into the room eyeing Wade suspiciously. Wade rolled his eyes and grabbed the nearly-empty and practically cold mug of coffee off the bedside table. "I'll go make you a new one." He turned and left the room, making sure to bump his shoulder into Justin as he did.

The South African glared at Wade's retreating back, wishing his eyes could burn holes through the back of his head. Hearing Mady stand up, he turned to face her again.

"I, uh, came to see how you were." Justin explained with a small smile. Mady brushed a hand through her loose curls and nodded at him.

"I'll live."

He watched her walk to her suitcase, rubbing her temple with her fingers as the headache continued.

"So," Justin shuffled uncomfortably.

"If you have something to say, Justin, just say it." Mady chuckled as she knelt down to her bag. "And if you could lower your voice to, like, a whisper that would be swell."

"Did, uh, did something happen between you and Barrett last night?"

"No."

"Not even a little something?"

"No." She repeated a little slower. She turned her head over her shoulder with a small frown. "But it sure sounds like you wanted there to be."

"No, I just—" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"He put drunk-me to bed, Justin." She stood with a handful of fresh clothes. "I didn't think that was such a big deal."

"Well, it kind of is." Justin told her. He didn't want to be annoyed at her but it was turning out that way. "You know, since what happened _last time_ he put drunk-you to bed."

"Is that what this is about?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were done with that."

"We are." He nodded. "But, you know, that door is still open—especially when I hear what happened last night—"

"_Nothing_ happened last night. We just went through this." She slipped out of the dress she had on and replaced it with the clean one. "I got too drunk and Wade helped me out."

"You can't honestly think he did that out of the _kindness of his heart_," Justin snorted. "He doesn't have one."

Mady turned and frowned further. She couldn't believe he'd actually said that. Sure, they'd both had their issues with the Brit—her more than he—but Wade had cared for her at her most vulnerable. She wouldn't have made it out of the bar safely had he not come to find her.

"How dare you." She scoffed.

"Oh come on, Mady. He's not a good guy—"

She tied her hair up into a messy bun and collected her purse and shoes from the floor. "Who are you to say that?" She scoffed. "He was there for me last night—" She stopped as she went to pass him. "—where were _you_?"

"Oh come on—" Justin turned on his heel and followed her out into the living room. Skip and Husky looked up from the sofa. "—you can't turn this around on me."

"Oh I can't?"

Wade stared at the arguing pair from the kitchen.

"_You're_ the one being unreasonable." Mady continued as she turned to face her ex-boyfriend.

"_I'm_ being unreasonable?" He almost laughed. "Mady, you spent the night with the man you _cheated on me_ with."

"And nothing happened!" She shouted. God, he was starting to infuriate her. She glanced at Wade who had moved to the other side of the counter to be closer to the argument. She looked back at Justin, shooting daggers at the Brit with his eyes.

"God, even if something _did_ happen it's not like _we're together_."

Justin's eyes snapped back to her like a rubber band.

"What, did you think I would come back and we'd just be _fine_?" By the look on his face that's exactly what he thought. "Justin, a lot happened between us, a lot of things that haven't been worked out."

She sighed, finding the confidence to admit what had been eating at her for days. "Things I'm not sure I want fixed."

It looked like she had slapped him square across the face. Husky and Skip shared a glance as the room fell awkwardly silent.

Wade shuffled, smug, trying his hardest not to grin or laugh or yell "_I told you so_" in Justin's face as bad as he wanted to.

Mady swallowed, guilt hitting her like a freight train. Justin looked so hurt, so betrayed, so..._vulnerable_. But it needed to be said—they couldn't just continue to hurt each other.

"J—" She sighed as he moved past her, throwing her hand off his arm before slamming the hotel room door behind him. She stared at it, as did the three men.


End file.
